HAL cancelled our cabana 2 days before sailing

[Destiny0315]

48 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

I would/will be upset if that happens to me, but in reality, they did not have to pay for it and gave them some meals.  What makes it "right"?  A few free dinners?  Gratis cruise?

Right. So that would be like having a large grocery store hold for you one of the last gallons of milk but when you go down to the store to get it the clerk in dairy has sold it to someone else. So now you feel they need to make up for their mistake by giving you at least a cow if not the whole dairy farm!

[KroozNut]

2 hours ago, Destiny0315 said:

Right. So that would be like having a large grocery store hold for you one of the last gallons of milk but when you go down to the store to get it the clerk in dairy has sold it to someone else. So now you feel they need to make up for their mistake by giving you at least a cow if not the whole dairy farm!

 

I do understand your analogy, but a (not so minor) difference between the OP's scenario and your example is that the OP reserved AND pre-paid for the cabana.

[HALcruiser2001]

2 hours ago, Destiny0315 said:

Right. So that would be like having a large grocery store hold for you one of the last gallons of milk but when you go down to the store to get it the clerk in dairy has sold it to someone else. So now you feel they need to make up for their mistake by giving you at least a cow if not the whole dairy farm!

 

Milk does not equal a once in a life time event and trip.   I dont prepay for milk.   Never have, never will.   Not sure how you can make that leap.

[cccole]

2 hours ago, Destiny0315 said:

Right. So that would be like having a large grocery store hold for you one of the last gallons of milk but when you go down to the store to get it the clerk in dairy has sold it to someone else. So now you feel they need to make up for their mistake by giving you at least a cow if not the whole dairy farm!

What if you had paid for the gallon of milk?  If you have a large grocery store hold something for you usually you have to pay for it to be held.  I think the big difference is OP chose and paid for a particular cabana, and then someone more important came along and HAL caved.  JMO. 

[lagirlforjesus]

On 1/17/2023 at 6:34 PM, Florida_gal_50 said:

That’s too bad but not super surprising coming from hal.  They will never admit they are wrong nor do anything to make the wrong right.  A couple weeks back on the Princess board I read something about a cabana and a balcony dinner gone wrong.  Princess screwed up.  She was very upset rightfully.  Princess bent over backwards to make it right.  It’s not so much the mistakes, it’s how you fix them.  Hal’s best defence is to deny and take no responsibility for anything. Super disappointing.

I couldn’t agree more.  
 

“It’s not the mistakes, it’s how you fix them.”

[lagirlforjesus]

23 hours ago, colin v said:

So HAL screwed you on your pre-paid cabana booking and offered 2 other smaller cabanas (at the same rate?!?), or a comp cabana and 4 comp Pinnacle Grill Dinners, which didn't suit you. You are going up one side and down the other of HAL and probably let it ruin your vacation. FWIW - I may do the same.

 

Southwest screwed you on your flights with no ride home and no help, with the same 2 minors in tow, and you "took it in stride".

 

How did Southwest make it right? Did they pay for your car rental and any hotel/food/fuel costs incurred?  Or maybe you will NEVER fly Southwest again and include that as part of your news story?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Southwest paid for our rental car, our hotel and all of our meals.  They cut us a check for our expenses within a week of incurring them.  

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, Destiny0315 said:

Right. So that would be like having a large grocery store hold for you one of the last gallons of milk but when you go down to the store to get it the clerk in dairy has sold it to someone else. So now you feel they need to make up for their mistake by giving you at least a cow if not the whole dairy farm!

Wow, just wow.

[lagirlforjesus]

23 hours ago, colin v said:

So HAL screwed you on your pre-paid cabana booking and offered 2 other smaller cabanas (at the same rate?!?), or a comp cabana and 4 comp Pinnacle Grill Dinners, which didn't suit you. You are going up one side and down the other of HAL and probably let it ruin your vacation. FWIW - I may do the same.

 

Southwest screwed you on your flights with no ride home and no help, with the same 2 minors in tow, and you "took it in stride".

 

How did Southwest make it right? Did they pay for your car rental and any hotel/food/fuel costs incurred?  Or maybe you will NEVER fly Southwest again and include that as part of your news story?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Southwest also gave each of us 25,000 points (worth about $300 ea.) and they gave us A-list status.  This means that we will always board in the “A” group for the rest of the year.  They also refunded our flights.

 

I think they were pretty generous in “making things right.”   

[lagirlforjesus]

4 hours ago, bdd123 said:

Maybe I was not clear.   We all have to agree that they should not give up a reservation, that is a given.

Assuming that they gave up the reservation  purposefully or mistakenly.  How does HAL reimburse you?

The only real option is to either say tough luck or give you something of equal or better value.

I appreciate the logic here.   In the end, I understand that mistakes can happen.  I would have appreciated a quick resolution from customer service instead of 5 days of back and forth communication.  We thought that the “Have it All” package would have been fair compensation for giving the cabana that we reserved months ahead of time to someone else with only 48 hour cancellation notice.  We even offered to pay for half of the $599 price tag for the “Have it All”  package.  They wouldn’t budge.  They wouldn’t even let us purchase the “Have It All” package for some reason before we cruised.  We had really wanted this package so we thought that was fair compensation for such a late notice on our cabana cancellation as well as the trouble they had put us through by not responding to us for five days (2 before the cruise and 3 days on the cruise). 
 

We did enjoy the rest of the cruise.  I did appreciate all of the advice to put things in the past and try to make the best of things.  I am human.  I initially struggled with losing the amenity that was going to provide us with privacy on a completely booked Christmas cruise.
 

I am a long-time cruiser.  We have cruised Celebrity for years but I have never encountered this kind of “no” customer service on a cruise ship.

 

Anyway, as a side note, we had booked this same family cabana last summer in Alaska on the same ship.  We loved it.  It was very important to us.  
 

NOTE: One of the glass panels in the family cabana that we rented last summer on the Eurodam was shattered but still in place.  The butlers told us that it would be replaced.  It was still shattered on this sailing 6 months later.  The shattered glass blocks your view of the ocean.  Just thought someone might want to know if they are booking a family cabana as it greatly reduces your ability to see the ocean.  It doesn’t appear that HAL is in any rush to fix this. 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by lagirlforjesus

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

I do understand your analogy, but a (not so minor) difference between the OP's scenario and your example is that the OP reserved AND pre-paid for the cabana.

And HAL refunded their payment when they were unable to supply the reserved service. It's not like HAL canceled the reservation and kept the money.

 

Things happen. I have had airline  reservations canceled, I have had hotel reservation canceled and been walked by the hotel. I have missed ports on cruises for a multitude of reasons. All events booked and reserved in advance. In any of those cases does the business owe anything beyond what was paid for the reserved services. Nope. In the case of a missed port only the taxes and fees associated for that port.

 

Not any difference with the Cabana reservation. The money paid for the reserved service refunded, anything else provided was for goodwill.

[cccole]

I am happy to hear you had a good family cruise.  We have cruised HAL and Celebrity and are now deciding between these two lines for a January 2024 cruise.  REALLY disappointed in your treatment by HAL, and unfortunately there have been a few red flags lately.  I'm sure there are on Celebrity also.  I would really be non linear if the cabin, cabana, dining table, I pay to reserve was given to someone they think "more important."  There are professionals who are hired by hospitality companies, which includes cruise lines, to train them on how to avoid and/or handle these situations.  HAL dropped the ball.  

 

HIA seems like it would have been a no brainer for HAL.  Yikes...what were they thinking?  Food and beverage costs them almost nothing.  It's the first thing a hotel will do when there is a problem.   The only reason I know this is because I have family who work in hospitality.   If HAL had chosen this route I'm not sure I would be responding.  They offered nothing.  Oh, yes they did, they returned the money payed in advance to reserve a particular cabana, and a dinner at the Pinnacle.  Really HAL?  What were you thinking?  

 

Thank you for posting this and I'm really happy you had a great cruise with your family.  Cherie

Edited January 19, 2023 by cccole

[lagirlforjesus]

5 minutes ago, cccole said:

I am happy to hear you had a good family cruise.  We have cruised HAL and Celebrity and are now deciding between these two lines for a January 2024 cruise.  REALLY disappointed in your treatment by HAL, and unfortunately there have been a few red flags lately.  I'm sure there are on Celebrity also.

 

HIA seems like it would have been a no brainer for HAL.  Yikes...what were they thinking?  Food and beverage costs them almost nothing.  It's the first thing a hotel will do when there is a problem.   The only reason I know this is because I have family who work in hospitality. 

 

Thank you for posting this and I'm really happy you had a great cruise with your family.  Cherie

Thanks Cherie.  This wasn’t our first bad experience on HAL.  We sailed them for the first time in Dec 2019.  Right before the pandemic.  Our ship never left the port as they were having engine trouble.   They kept us in FL at the dock for 4 days.  Then they canceled our cruise.  
 

At the time, I was patient with them as things can happen.  I took it in stride.  We had a major disruption in our travel and our vacation with our daughters never happened.  

 

I wasn’t willing to let that happen again.  I wasn’t expecting the sun, moon and stars.  Just a fair compromise for bait and switching us again.  The HIA package was a no brainier to us too.  So far HAL has not left us with any warm fuzzies. 
 

Oh well.  On to our next adventure.  

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, cccole said:

I am happy to hear you had a good family cruise.  We have cruised HAL and Celebrity and are now deciding between these two lines for a January 2024 cruise.  REALLY disappointed in your treatment by HAL, and unfortunately there have been a few red flags lately.  I'm sure there are on Celebrity also.  I would really be non linear if the cabin, cabana, dining table, I pay to reserve was given to someone they think "more important."  There are professionals who are hired by hospitality companies, which includes cruise lines, to train them on how to avoid and/or handle these situations.  HAL dropped the ball.  

 

HIA seems like it would have been a no brainer for HAL.  Yikes...what were they thinking?  Food and beverage costs them almost nothing.  It's the first thing a hotel will do when there is a problem.   The only reason I know this is because I have family who work in hospitality. 

 

Thank you for posting this and I'm really happy you had a great cruise with your family.  Cherie

Lot of assumptions with the comment given to someone more important. Could have been many things including a discrepancy between the land based system and the ship based system. Since it was discovered just before the cruise that is the period when the land based systems are locked and the information is transferred to the ship. Of course this is CC so conspiracy theories abound instead of going with the simplest answer that there was a conflict (overbooking) discovered when the data was transfered.

[cccole]

Well your experience is also leaving me with questions about what I can/should expect from a fully paid for cruise where I pay in advance for things important to us.  Hope your next adventure is fabulous!  Cherie 

[HALcruiser2001]

3 hours ago, cccole said:

I love this. Yes there could have been so many reasons why a prepaid specific cabana was cancelled 2 days prior to departure.  I'm not sure how often it happens.  But...there could have also been solutions to remedy the situation.  Like "we're so sorry for the overbooking and/or the discrepancy between our land and ship based systems".  "We know that you paid and booked this cabana in advance and we are so sorry.  So we would like to offer you ......"  Conspiracy theories on CC...thank you for a good laugh.  Differences of opinions are not conspiracy theories.  JMO  Cherie 

 

So ...    I booked my cabana via guest services.

 

I had to call each day for a few days, but eventually one was available.    The rep in guest services sent me an email about the confirmation.     No legitimate receipt.

 

Today I called again asking for a formal receipt/confirmation.    Nope.   Just another email from a rep.

 

Crazy.   Not impressed.

 

How many times do you purchase something for $399 and not get a formal receipt?

[Destiny0315]

6 hours ago, bdd123 said:

Milk does not equal a once in a life time event and trip.   I dont prepay for milk.   Never have, never will.   Not sure how you can make that leap.

My analogy was meant to emphasize that the milk (prepaid for or not) like the cabana was just a small part of their cruise overall. Though important to them it means nothing to a billion dollar corporation like CCL so why expect a better response. In the end they were dealing with failures by two billion dollar corporations CCL and SWA. One provided them with a better level of satisfaction in their response to it but as the sun rises today both remain billion dollar corporations and no threads on these forums are going to change that. Think for example Carnival Triumph and Costa Concordia both major failures to say the least, yet CCL continues to exist for our enjoyment and disparagement.

[Florida_gal_50]

8 hours ago, ldtr said:

And HAL refunded their payment when they were unable to supply the reserved service. It's not like HAL canceled the reservation and kept the money.

 

Things happen. I have had airline  reservations canceled, I have had hotel reservation canceled and been walked by the hotel. I have missed ports on cruises for a multitude of reasons. All events booked and reserved in advance. In any of those cases does the business owe anything beyond what was paid for the reserved services. Nope. In the case of a missed port only the taxes and fees associated for that port.

 

Not any difference with the Cabana reservation. The money paid for the reserved service refunded, anything else provided was for goodwill.

So you’d be ok if you booked a beautiful balcony and when you get on the ship they give you the smallest possible inside room?  I’m talking about a room you paid full rack rate for, not a freebie.

[cruisemom42]

On 1/17/2023 at 9:34 PM, Florida_gal_50 said:

It’s not so much the mistakes, it’s how you fix them.  Hal’s best defence is to deny and take no responsibility for anything.

 

An excellent summary of what went wrong. A mistake was made. That happens. Where HAL really failed was in making the party whole. There were so many ways they could have done this, starting by admitting their mistake and then offering something of equivalent or more value.

 

A story:  My ex-DH and I booked a honeymoon cruise on NCL back in the 1980s. We experienced at least three major incidents that ranged from very disappointing to unsavory and preying on less experienced travelers. I had been on other cruise lines and had never experienced the sort of vituperative responses from staff that we were subjected to for requesting what was rightfully "ours" to expect -- including one item that, like the OP, had been booked and prepaid in advance.  It didn't help that there was a large charter on board as well....  We considered leaving the ship mid-cruise but we were young, had little cash and were not sure what we would do for the rest of the week, so we stayed aboard. Not the honeymoon we envisioned.

 

In the end, it was how NCL chose to treat us when we spoke up (during and after the cruise) and not the disappointments themselves that ultimately crossed the line for me. I vowed never to sail on NCL again -- and haven't from then until now, a period of some 30 years of active cruising. Sometimes I smile at how much NCL ended up costing themselves on that one....

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

So you’d be ok if you booked a beautiful balcony and when you get on the ship they give you the smallest possible inside room?  I’m talking about a room you paid full rack rate for, not a freebie.

Have see ship changes with changes in cabins, have had cabin locations changes. Cruise enoughand you see just about everything. Cruise lines are complex business with lots of parts.

 

Just as in this case there was a refund of the fee paid for the Cabana, to be at all similar there would be a refund of the difference in fares to the lowest amount for that cabin for that cruise.

 

Had something similar happen once when the cabin I had booked was removed from inventory for operational reasons on another cruise line a few days before the cruise. Was given the choice of full refund with additional fcc, or a cabin down grade with a refund of fare difference, plus fcc. Due to the nature of the cruise we took the downgrade. Actually was one of our favorite cruises.

[Guest ldtr]

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

An excellent summary of what went wrong. A mistake was made. That happens. Where HAL really failed was in making the party whole. There were so many ways they could have done this, starting by admitting their mistake and then offering something of equivalent or more value.

 

A story:  My ex-DH and I booked a honeymoon cruise on NCL back in the 1980s. We experienced at least three major incidents that ranged from very disappointing to unsavory and preying on less experienced travelers. I had been on other cruise lines and had never experienced the sort of vituperative responses from staff that we were subjected to for requesting what was rightfully "ours" to expect -- including one item that, like the OP, had been booked and prepaid in advance.  It didn't help that there was a large charter on board as well....  We considered leaving the ship mid-cruise but we were young, had little cash and were not sure what we would do for the rest of the week, so we stayed aboard. Not the honeymoon we envisioned.

 

In the end, it was how NCL chose to treat us when we spoke up (during and after the cruise) and not the disappointments themselves that ultimately crossed the line for me. I vowed never to sail on NCL again -- and haven't from then until now, a period of some 30 years of active cruising. Sometimes I smile at how much NCL ended up costing themselves on that one....

 

 

Making the party whole  They refunded the fee paid for the service that was not provided so technically at the point the party was whole as far as costs.

 

At that point it is a question of the amount of goodwill that the cruise line will extend. For an onboard service usually around 25 to 50% of the cost of the service is fairly common. An amount in excess of the cost of that service, unlikely.

 

Not sure exactly what the fee is for the Cabana, but HAL did offer goodwill in excess of a $100 which was rejected.

 

Customer service will have guidelines on what they can offer. based upon how the interaction goes they might see if they can go above it. Or they might decide that the relationship with that particular customer is not worth it. Such as if they threaten that they will never sail with the line again.

 

I am quite sure (not) that NCL is keeping track of what you spent with other lines and are concerned about it.

 

While we all have relationships with some cruise line employees. As far as the corporation goes we are pretty interchangeable. A cruise line defines the services and their policies, we decide if we wish to do business with them. Same as any other travel industry.

[cruisemom42]

53 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Making the party whole  They refunded the fee paid for the service that was not provided so technically at the point the party was whole as far as costs.

 

At that point it is a question of the amount of goodwill that the cruise line will extend. For an onboard service usually around 25 to 50% of the cost of the service is fairly common. An amount in excess of the cost of that service, unlikely.

 

Not sure exactly what the fee is for the Cabana, but HAL did offer goodwill in excess of a $100 which was rejected.

 

Customer service will have guidelines on what they can offer. based upon how the interaction goes they might see if they can go above it. Or they might decide that the relationship with that particular customer is not worth it. Such as if they threaten that they will never sail with the line again.

 

I am quite sure (not) that NCL is keeping track of what you spent with other lines and are concerned about it.

 

While we all have relationships with some cruise line employees. As far as the corporation goes we are pretty interchangeable. A cruise line defines the services and their policies, we decide if we wish to do business with them. Same as any other travel industry.

 

Sometimes financial restitution does not, by itself, make a party whole IF their entire experience was significantly downgraded.

 

And yes, I am well aware of the fact that I am a rounding error to NCL. Yet it makes ME smile. I choose to do business with companies that don't screw their customers. As is so often recommended, I voted with my feet.

 

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Sometimes financial restitution does not, by itself, make a party whole IF their entire experience was significantly downgraded.

 

And yes, I am well aware of the fact that I am a rounding error to NCL. Yet it makes ME smile. I choose to do business with companies that don't screw their customers. As is so often recommended, I voted with my feet.

 

HAL made a goodwill offer that was a percentage of the service, OP rejected it and asked for something beyond what HAL was willing to offer. Their choice.

 

Many people have been disappointed by something that has happened a a cruise from ports getting dropped to partial charters being onboard, etc. It is a rare travelers that has not encountered a disappointment at one time or another.

[lagirlforjesus]

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Sometimes financial restitution does not, by itself, make a party whole IF their entire experience was significantly downgraded.

 

I agree.  HAL cancelled our cabana 48 hours before the cruise and this did not allow us ample time to change our plans.  A family cabana was the most important aspect of our cruise especially on a completely booked Christmas cruise.  We booked a lesser cabin knowing that we would have that large outdoor space.  It would provide us with a private outdoor area that would fit our whole family and allow us to be together after a difficult event that took place in our family.  
 

There was no way that we could cancel our cruise or our flight plans 48 hours before the cruise and expect to be reimbursed.  In addition, no one from Ship Services would get back to us before we left to help us and no one on board would get back to us or explain to us what happened.  
 

There was no help. There was no explanation.  
 

Again, I understand mistakes.  It is not, however, acceptable to ignore your customers.   Holland America ignored our attempts to get help for five days;  this means that they didn’t care about us a customer.  

Edited January 19, 2023 by lagirlforjesus

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, lagirlforjesus said:

I agree.  HAL cancelled our cabana 48 hours before the cruise and this did not allow us ample time to change our plans.  A family cabana was the most important aspect of our cruise especially on a completely booked Christmas cruise.  We booked a lesser cabin knowing that we would have that large outdoor space.  It would provide us with a private outdoor area that would fit our whole family and allow us to be together after a difficult event that took place in our family.  
 

There was no way that we could cancel our cruise or our flight plans 48 hours before the cruise and expect to be reimbursed.  In addition, no one from Ship Services would get back to us before we left to help us and no one on board would get back to us or explain to us what happened.  
 

There was no help. There was no explanation.  
 

Again, I understand mistakes.  It is not, however, acceptable to ignore your customers.   Holland America ignored our attempts to get help for five days;  this means that they didn’t care about us a customer.  

From your own posts they did not ignore you, they offered 2 smaller Cabanas. Not liking the the alternative they offered is not the same as being ignored.

[Greysandy]

We do the same thing, book a lesser room and spend most of our time in the cabana.