Holland Books Unwanted Cruise

[mcrcruiser]

Has any one here ever has a Holland America   cruise booked by the cruise line that was not wanted  ? 

 

 We were  interested is a 14 day  Alaska   cruise for May 2024 .So we phoned HAL & got a rep in Colorado on the phone .She came up with a handicap balcony cabin   but in the very front of the ship   on deck 6 of the Nieuw Amsterdam  .We told her that was a bad location & not for us . Well a day later we get a e-mail from HAL telling us this cruise was booked for us  .We returned that e-mail saying we never booked the cruise even though there was a booking number .Not a cheap cruise price 

 

This experience sends up  red flags   

 

 

 

[OlsSalt]

Was it a courtesy hold?

Thanks for the heads up.

[rodndonna]

Sounds to me like they just put it on hold for you in case you decided you wanted it in the next few days.

[Hllb]

I'm guessing a courtesy hold as well. You'll get the booking number and paperwork, and in there it will say the deposit is due by xxx, and if you don't pay it, the hold disappears. Generally they hold for 5 days I think. What I found annoying was that you can't release the hold early online. If you want it gone, you have to call them.

[GeezerCouple]

I'm assuming either a courtesy hold or the phone agent thought it was a likely "go".

 

Either way, the decision to make the reservation (with no obligation to the prospective passenger(s)) makes sense.  I can only imagine the times when someone called, asking about a cruise, *thought* they had a reservation on hold or would be billed soon or such... and then later found out a reservation had *not* been made, and prices went up or availability is gone, etc.

 

GC

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sadly this is their new practice, I think they get merit points for placing on hold or something like that. I am sure it is just on hold with hopes you will pay the deposit. This is being done by Princess as well they push to get it on hold.

[friendswithdave]

Thanks for sharing your story. I understand your frustration, but if you didn't give them your credit card number, you have nothing to worry about. Does seem like a slimy practice.

[colbe]

2 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Has any one here ever has a Holland America   cruise booked by the cruise line that was not wanted  ? 

 

 We were  interested is a 14 day  Alaska   cruise for May 2024 .So we phoned HAL & got a rep in Colorado on the phone .She came up with a handicap balcony cabin   but in the very front of the ship   on deck 6 of the Nieuw Amsterdam  .We told her that was a bad location & not for us . Well a day later we get a e-mail from HAL telling us this cruise was booked for us  .We returned that e-mail saying we never booked the cruise even though there was a booking number .Not a cheap cruise price 

 

This experience sends up  red flags   

 

 

 

That is just a curtesy hold for you. It will drop off when you don't pay the deposit.

[mcrcruiser]

On 2/20/2023 at 10:05 AM, OlsSalt said:

Was it a courtesy hold?

Thanks for the heads up.

Apparently yes .  However ,we never requested a courtesy hold

[mcrcruiser]

On 2/20/2023 at 10:07 AM, Hllb said:

I'm guessing a courtesy hold as well. You'll get the booking number and paperwork, and in there it will say the deposit is due by xxx, and if you don't pay it, the hold disappears. Generally they hold for 5 days I think. What I found annoying was that you can't release the hold early online. If you want it gone, you have to call them.

This is what exactly happened today .I has HAL on the phone . Quite   annoying for that HAL agent in Colorado to do that   .We spoke with another HAL rep just today inquiring about this Sept 2023 14 night Alaska  on Noordham & we explained what happened . Now that  May 2024  booking is gone ;but ,it was annoying to see them do some thing that was not authorized by us