Need tech help

[afdds]

You would think that because your first interaction with Holland America is either online or the app, that they would both be stellar.  Not the case.  Booked our cruise online and it was like pulling teeth.  I’ve had nothing but problems with the app Navigator. I can’t figure out how to remove a cancelled cruise on the app.  I want the future cruise 2024 to show up.  I’m not sure what happened but today it’s making me register again and I can’t even get that right. I give up! 

[OlsSalt]

Not one of HAL's strong points. Sorry this has been such a poor introduction to a cruise line that delivers a very good product, otherwise. 

 

Try a phone call and get a PCC - Personal Cruise consultant, or transfer your reservation to a trusted travel agent.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 13, 2023 by OlsSalt

[oaktreerb]

I would never book a cruise online.  Cruises are expensive.  There are a lot of variables you need to be aware of, even for an experienced HAL cruiser.  You aren’t saving any money by DIY.

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

I would never book a cruise online.  Cruises are expensive.  There are a lot of variables you need to be aware of, even for an experienced HAL cruiser.  You aren’t saving any money by DIY.

 

If you do your research, you can book online. I've done a lot of dummy bookings on HAL's site to check pricing, and it doesn't seem too hard to navigate. A lot of steps, for sure, but I know the site well enough to get around. For a first timer, I agree that it's not the best idea.

 

After I do my price research, I call my TA. HAL's website doesn't show all the price options. My TA can quote the advantage fare, which the website never offers. 

 

I wouldn't use an app to make any cruise booking. It's too easy to tap the wrong thing on my phone screen. Plus, being on this board a lot, I KNOW that HAL's app isn't reliable. 

[kazu]

Rather than use the Navigator app, go to the Holland America website, log in and pull up your itinerary and you can cancel your shore excursion from there.

 

It should work.  If it doesn’t, call the shore excursion desk on Monday to get it cancelled.

 

I find the Navigator app is limited as to what it does before you get on board and use the website.  Once I am on board, the Navigator app is the key for everything and seems to work well.

[JohnnyPS]

There must be some sort of system issues on the Holand America side.  I have been trying to log on via my app on iPhone this morning and keep getting the message "There was an error with login, please try again. (04ED30C2)"  I have been able to log on to my account on a PC however.

[afdds]

15 minutes ago, JohnnyPS said:

There must be some sort of system issues on the Holand America side.  I have been trying to log on via my app on iPhone this morning and keep getting the message "There was an error with login, please try again. (04ED30C2)"  I have been able to log on to my account on a PC however.

Oh thank you, I’ll try again tomorrow and see if it clears up.  If not, I’ll do as others have said and call or try from my computer instead of my phone and the app

[YourWorldWithBill]

1 hour ago, afdds said:

Oh thank you, I’ll try again tomorrow and see if it clears up.  If not, I’ll do as others have said and call or try from my computer instead of my phone and the app

One thing that appears many days on the HAL message boards here are issues with their website or the Navigator. Things usually clear up in a day or so. But as was said, I've found that making a call is the simple way of fixing things.

 

By the way, we're booked for a cruise on a line that shall remain nameless (starts with O), considered a luxury line, and they don't have an app! Made me grateful for the Navigator.

[POA1]

They are probably updating the website. (The app is basically pulling up the same data with a different "presentation layer.") The website version is more robust in almost every case*.

 

A canceled cruise should fall off in a few hours, overnight in the worst case scenario. If you are having problems, call your PCC or TA.

 

*- The display of old cruise folios is better in the app right now.

[PigsCanFly]

Our experience with the Navigator last summer when we were booked on a b2b on Zaandam was that there was no way to access the second cruise until the first week was over.  They were booked as 2 separate 7 day cruises, but the navigator would not let us access the 2nd at all.

We are currently booked for a b2b next month on the Zuiderdam .  Same issue for this trip.

We could check in for the first leg, but zero access for the 2nd leg.  I never thought I waould say anything nice about the HAL website, but it allowed us to do check in & pre-cruise purchases for either cruise leg.  Good luck!  I would not wait for the Navigator to get "fixed". Try the HAL website.

[cbr663]

Our experience with the Navigator app when we sailed in May was it's best to use the app a couple of days prior to embarkation.  We had a lot of issues when using the app months before our cruise and everything started to work as promised when close to boarding the ship.

 

We have another cruise booked for Nov and just booked another for next June.  I will continue to do all my planning using the on-line website and will only use Navigator closer to sailing.  

 

I just checked though and the cruise we booked today is not showing up online.  

[afdds]

Thanks everyone for all the help.  l will only rely on the Navigator app when on board or traveling.  While still at home I will use my MAC.  

[OlsSalt]

55 minutes ago, afdds said:

Thanks everyone for all the help.  l will only rely on the Navigator app when on board or traveling.  While still at home I will use my MAC.  

 

When using Navigator on board, the device needs to be in "airplane mode". Maybe others already knew this, but we had to stand in very long lines the first day to learn this along with plenty of others who were also having trouble getting Navigator to work on board.

 

Then we found we did not get reception in several spots around the ship - like in the retreat cabana - we had to move around to make it work. But despite those early set-backs, it was pretty handy to instantly look things up.

[Mary229]

At home I constantly get a screen asking me to sign in which will lead to an error message.  I ignore that screen and click behind it and everything seems to work just fine.  Technology is not HAL’s strong suit. 

[OlsSalt]

Old saying in the very early days of "technology": high-tech will need  only low (human) touch. Low tech still needs high (human) touch.

 

Badly working "high tech" definitely needs a lot of back up human high touch.

 

HAL used to have a very efficient, direct but clunky website. Then  they drove many of us crazy going much more high-tech with whistles and bells that just got in the way -simply because they could. 

 

They tamed down those initial changes and certainly got us trained to understand the new system better, but it still never does what "I" want it to do and I am constantly having to move in and out and start over again. Even when you finally learn what you want to know upfront, the path is never a straight route. 

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

they drove many of us crazy going much more high-tech with whistles and bells that just got in the way -simply because they could. 

Have you tried to book flights recently?  Instead of simply going to your manage page and clicking flights now you have to go through a variety of very pretty pop ups with the last one needing a few tricks to get rid of to actually get to the flight search page.   They need to design for the use instead of trying to use the design to throw in a little extra marketing.  The marketing departments have gone mad and need to get out of the way 

[YourWorldWithBill]

5 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Then we found we did not get reception in several spots around the ship - like in the retreat cabana - we had to move around to make it work. But despite those early set-backs, it was pretty handy to instantly look things up.

On Noordam a year ago we had the same experience: it was very sketchy and would only work in certain area. But on Rotterdam in May, Navigator worked like a charm wherever I was walking. I used it a lot as an easy way to remember where I was going! I guess I need one for my house.