Zaandam Feb 3, 2024 21 day Caribbean cancelled

[Florida_gal_50]

32 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

What's ominous, that someone would defect from HAL?

You are only allowed to do that if you stay up past 10PM ;).

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

You are only allowed to do that if you stay up past 10PM ;).

 

Okay, how about 11:00? 😜

[Guest ldtr]

45 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

What's ominous, that someone would defect from HAL?

Maybe that we are looking at booking a cruise based upon where Death in Paradise is filmed.

[OlsSalt]

48 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

What's ominous, that someone would defect from HAL?

 

The fate of the Zaandam.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Just now, ldtr said:

Maybe that we are looking at booking a cruise based upon where Death in Paradise is filmed.

 

I really really wanted a T shirt that said Death in Paradise, maybe one with Richard or Richard and Camille on it. But I guess "Death in Paradise" isn't something a tropical island puts on a shirt. I ended up buying a shirt with little lizards on it. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

Just now, OlsSalt said:

 

The fate of the Zaandam.

 I can see using the smaller ships for longer itineraries, especially for any that might be new and therefore iffy in terms of bookings. Plus smaller ports can be difficult for the larger ships.

 

I just wish they'd figure out what the bleep they are doing with this ship next winter. The other legendary voyages can be seen. But Zaandam has nothing between Feb 3 and March 16. If they wanted to do the 28-day Amazon departing Feb 17, they could have reworked the 21 day Feb 3 Caribbean to a 14-day and had both ready to put on the website.

 

Oh wait. Am I really expecting HAL to be that organized? 🙄

[OlsSalt]

40 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I really really wanted a T shirt that said Death in Paradise, maybe one with Richard or Richard and Camille on it. But I guess "Death in Paradise" isn't something a tropical island puts on a shirt. I ended up buying a shirt with little lizards on it. 

 

Ha, ha. That reminds me of our visit to Dutch Harbor, Alaska and all we saw were tee-shirts with The Deadliest Catch logo on them. We had never watched that program, and were dismayed at the lack of choices, because those looked pretty grim and scary.

 

After we got home we watched the old Nefllix of the early series to see what the fuss was about, and ended up getting totally hooked on the program and realized what that tee-shirt logo was all about. Then kicked ourselves we did not buy one, when we were actually there on the scene.

[rotjeknor]

23 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

 

It's a mess. Hard to believe they've been in business for 150 years...

Read up on the history of the Holland Amerika Lijn , then you know why they ‘ve been in business for 150 years , the first 116 years run by the “ Holland “ part of the HAL 😊

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 I can see using the smaller ships for longer itineraries, especially for any that might be new and therefore iffy in terms of bookings. Plus smaller ports can be difficult for the larger ships.

 

I just wish they'd figure out what the bleep they are doing with this ship next winter. The other legendary voyages can be seen. But Zaandam has nothing between Feb 3 and March 16. If they wanted to do the 28-day Amazon departing Feb 17, they could have reworked the 21 day Feb 3 Caribbean to a 14-day and had both ready to put on the website.

 

Oh wait. Am I really expecting HAL to be that organized? 🙄

Pretty standard for most lines longer itineraries are done by smaller ships.  Amazon needs to be a smaller ship.   Caribbean routes can be done by pretty much any ship.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Is there anyone else booked on this cruise who didn't get the cancellation info?

 

It's Monday, almost a week since others received notice that this cruise is cancelled. I still have not had a word from HAL, nor has my TA. The booking still appears in my account. If I click on the booking reference, I am told that my cruise is 327 days away! I was able to select a beverage package and it appeared in my cart. 

 

Meanwhile, the 2024 Legendary Amazon cruise does not appear when I click on "legendary cruises." Only 2025 is there, and no other cruise comes up if I click "other dates." If I use "find a cruise" to search for Zaandam, there's a gap from Feb 3 to March 16. 

 

What's going on, HAL?????

[Boatdrill]

24 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

It's Monday, almost a week since others received notice that this cruise is cancelled. I still have not had a word from HAL, nor has my TA.

What's going on, HAL?????

Has your TA contacted his/her HAL rep ? 

[3rdGenCunarder]

6 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

Has your TA contacted his/her HAL rep ? 

 

My TA's usual rep got moved to groups, so she doesn't have a reliable contact. HAL staff (if they are on staff?) don't know anything. Despite choosing the travel agent option, my TA often gets the same clueless outsourced people passengers get. And vice versa. On one call, when I had chosen the not a travel agent option, I was asked what agency I work for. It's all scrambled. It was bad enough when you (or an agent) called and got HAL employees working from home, and too out of touch with the details. Now they're employed by God knows whom, and they seem to know nothing about HAL. I could tell from his questions that the one I spoke to was going through the same booking steps a passenger uses. And he was MUCH slower at the search process than I am. He had no access to any info I couldn't get from the HAL site. 

 

I'm tired of HAL's "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" approach to customer service.

[Boatdrill]

4 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

My TA's usual rep got moved to groups, so she doesn't have a reliable contact. HAL staff (if they are on staff?) don't know anything.

The HAL reps for travel agents are the BDMs - Business Development Manager - and are regionally assigned. They work under the Sales Department. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

So, the latest in the saga. I can't resist "poking the bear," as DH used to say. A few days ago I checked, and yes, I'm still booked. (Still booked today, too, 323 days to go!!) So out of curiosity, I went to see if I could book something. Too early for dinner reservations or tours, but I could buy a beverage package. I didn't pay for it, no point in throwing more money at this mess. But yesterday morning, HAL's computer sent me an email reminding me I have something in my cart.

 

Nobody at HAL knows what's going on with the 6-week blank in Zaandam's schedule. Not when I called, not the person my TA called. When she goes into the reservation system, she sees nothing for those 6 weeks. We agreed that I should just let this ride, not cancel anything, in case I decide that whatever they do with Zaandam is something I would like. 

 

I'm beginning to wonder if this was a mistake. The Amazon Legendary cruise is Zaandam, Feb 2025. Did someone at HAL goof and clear Zaandam's calendar for Feb 2024 as well, by mistake, and now they're thinking @#$%^&! what should we do about this?????

[Duquesmom]

We ended up booking Celebrity.

[3rdGenCunarder]

12 minutes ago, Duquesmom said:

We ended up booking Celebrity.

 

I'm looking at a Princess cruise as backup, or a land tour. But since HAL had already set up a Caribbean itinerary for the Feb 3 departure, I'm waiting to see if they do an itinerary with some of those ports to fill in the 2 weeks before the legendary amazon. I think it's sloppy on their part not having worked out the whole 6 weeks before cancelling the 3-week cruise. 

 

At this point, I'm mostly curious to see how long my booking will stay "live." 

[VermeulT]

Bummer.  That was a great itinerary.

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 3/7/2023 at 7:22 PM, Duquesmom said:

Just received this email from my agent & HAL.   Really disappointed.

 

Zaandam X414

 

21-Day Ultimate Caribbean – Roundtrip Ft. Lauderdale

 

February 3, 2024

 

 

 

We greatly appreciate your clients choosing Holland America Line and we know they are looking forward to their cruise.

 

 

We are writing to let you know of a change we are making to our deployment that unfortunately impacts their cruise. The 21-Day Ultimate Caribbean sailing your clients are booked on is being cancelled. We sincerely apologize for this change as we never like to disappoint our guests. We regret any inconvenience this may cause and would like to assist in reserving an alternate sailing.

 

We invite your clients to make a booking on any Fall 2023 – Spring 2024 voyage of 21 days or less and be re-accommodated in the same (or equivalent) stateroom category at the per diem rate paid. In addition, a $100 per person Shipboard Credit (up to $200 per stateroom) will be applied to the new booking based on the stateroom category booked.

 

Cancellation Protection Plan cost and Taxes, Fees, and Port Expenses will be calculated based on the new booking.

 

Should your clients elect not to rebook, we will refund all funds paid to Holland America Line in full.

 

Has anyone else who was booked on the cancelled cruise been able to move their deposit? Was there a special phone number to call? Did they honor the per diem and/or the OBC offer? Did you keep your reservation number, or does it have a new number (I'll have to cancel my travel insurance if it's a new booking) All my TA gets are roadblocks from HAL. 

 

I quoted this post because it has the HAL letter in it. Does anyone see "must make this rebooking by March 21" in this letter? My TA went round and round with HAL yesterday for more than an hour. One person told her that I couldn't get the deposit transferred because I was supposed to do that by March 21. Well, if she or I had been notified, maybe I would have done that. (Also note that, although people were notified around March 7, the letter is fake-dated Feb 3!!!!)

 

Meanwhile, my account still shows my booking as "live" and I can still purchase a beverage package. My TA can see my booking and it's marked "cancelled" in the system she sees, but there is nothing to show future credits from the deposit or a return of the deposit to my credit card. HAL's system has done something screwy to my booking and it will be stuck there forever. As will my $600.

 

I tried chat on Wednesday (3/22), and the agent was useless. First, I was given a link to the "legendary cruises" search page with the array of little maps. As usual, Zaandam Feb 24 did not appear. So I was told that the Legendary Amazon was in 2025, not 2024. Then I got a link to something else that was useless. Clearly, this agent had access to the same web pages I do and nothing more. The final messages were that Zaandam has nothing from Feb 3 to March 17, and if I wanted Caribbean, Eurodam was the only ship doing the Caribbean. (Not true, there's at least one Pinnacle ship in the Caribbean next winter)

 

On Thursday, I did a cruise search and lo and behold! The hole in Zaandam's schedule is filled. 2 weeks in the Carribean followed by the 4-week legendary Amazon. The 2-week itinerary is good, and I want to transfer my deposit to that. 

 

I have never been jerked around like this by a cruise company. I have to keep reminding myself that it will be a good ship, with excellent service, and a nice change from HAL's same old, same old winter itineraries. IF I can ever book it...

[3rdGenCunarder]

The end of the saga. I was able to transfer the deposit to the 2-week cruise. It took my TA a couple of calls (and several hours on hold) to get someone who could do it, but it's done.

 

BUT I can't transfer the OBC that I had in the original booking. Considering I did not cancel, HAL did, this is a cheap move. And I won't get the meager $100 OBC "bonus" for moving the deposit because I didn't make the change by the deadline. I did not know about the deadline because I NEVER got the notification, nor did my TA. And the cruise I'm booking was not on the website until AFTER the deadline. Despite these arguments, she was told that I couldn't have the $100 OBC. It isn't a lot of money, and I wouldn't normally push on something like this, but HAL has handled this whole thing badly, and I didn't want to let them off the hook for something I think they owed me. But in the end, I let it go. 

 

On the plus side, I didn't need to argue for HAL to honor my per diem, because my cabin was less expensive. The HIA was a good deal because it included some OBC, so that sort of replaces the OBC they wouldn't roll over. And, most important, the idiots who answer the phone in Seattle or East Earmuff or wherever will NOT be on my ship. The wonderful HAL crew will be there, and I'm just happy to have this settled. 

 

[VermeulT]

that 2 week looks like a wonderful itinerary.  enjoy!

[Tampa Girl]

On 3/7/2023 at 7:49 PM, Duquesmom said:

Turns out the Zaandam will be doing a 27 day Amazon cruise as a “Legendary Voyage” Feb 17, 2024.

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/holland-america-cruise-legendary-voyages/

 

Hmm... I wonder if the 2024 WC will be on the Zaandam, of which the "Legendary Voyage" might be a segment?  The announcement for the '24 WC should be next week.

[Tampa Girl]

2 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Hmm... I wonder if the 2024 WC will be on the Zaandam, of which the "Legendary Voyage" might be a segment?  The announcement for the '24 WC should be next week.

 

Scratch the above.  I was thinking of the '25 WC.

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Scratch the above.  I was thinking of the '25 WC.

 

The same "Legendary" Amazon is on the '25 schedule, so who knows?

[luv2travel06]

On 3/10/2023 at 11:09 AM, Love2cruise77 said:

 

There are two Princess cruises in 2024 that will visit Guadeloupe:

Emerald Princess - 2/21/24

Ruby Princess - 3/9/24

We enjoy the Princess Circle Caribbean cruises, have enjoyed the Emerald Princess 3 or 4 times, and will be doing a Panama Canal transit on that ship next year. Our first time on the ship we kind of connected with our dining room steward and he made sure we got a better table on that cruise and the next one a couple of months later. Between the cruises he was promoted but came back to the dining room every night of the second cruise to see us and bring us a treat. 🙂

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 hours ago, luv2travel06 said:

We enjoy the Princess Circle Caribbean cruises, have enjoyed the Emerald Princess 3 or 4 times, and will be doing a Panama Canal transit on that ship next year. Our first time on the ship we kind of connected with our dining room steward and he made sure we got a better table on that cruise and the next one a couple of months later. Between the cruises he was promoted but came back to the dining room every night of the second cruise to see us and bring us a treat. 🙂

 

Princess was my back-up plan. But their ships are larger. it's a lot of years since I sailed with Princess, so I suppose I might try again, but I didn't like it. The ship felt crowded and except for a wonderful waiter, I thought service was poor.