Hal's new policy for changes is not nice

[cbr663]

14 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Guess I am in the process of testing this out.  Have a $1 deposit on a Dec 2024 sailing with/HIA and CO that we no longer want.  Hoping to move it to another cruise this summer (new booking), but guessing by all the comments here I should just write that all off.  Sad.  As the OP stated, I do this all the time with Princess and NCL as our plans constantly change.  Guess I'll need to be more wary when we make future plans with HAL.  And yes, I use a PCC as they can usually beat any quote I can get using other sources.

 

Please come back and let us know how things unfold for you, as I expect you will be in for a surprise with CO.

 

HAL does not appear to treat CO as an additional separate amenity when buying.  It instead adds it directly to your fare.  So a fare that is say $3000 without CO and you add CO at a cost of $500 then your new fare is $3500.  Not $3000 with a CO charge of $500, just a new higher fare of $3500.

 

This is an important thing to note.  HAL collects the CO charge when you book your fare.  You must pay for it when you book it.  It is treated though as part of your booking deposit.  So, if you book a cruise with a $1 non-refundable deposit and then add CO at $500, you now have a non-refundable deposit of $501.

 

I only discovered this yesterday when another poster inquired in another thread about cancelling CO.  When reviewing my invoice for my upcoming cruise I booked it 3 weeks prior to final payment so it seemed silly to pay more for a refundable fare for 3 weeks so I went ahead and booked non-refundable and added CO.  HAL did not advise me that adding CO to a non-refundable deposit would result in the CO charge also being non-refundable.  It was though noted in the Cancellation Fees Schedule on the invoice.

[TiogaCruiser]

17 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

 

Please come back and let us know how things unfold for you, as I expect you will be in for a surprise with CO.

 

HAL does not appear to treat CO as an additional separate amenity when buying.  It instead adds it directly to your fare.  So a fare that is say $3000 without CO and you add CO at a cost of $500 then your new fare is $3500.  Not $3000 with a CO charge of $500, just a new higher fare of $3500.

 

This is an important thing to note.  HAL collects the CO charge when you book your fare.  You must pay for it when you book it.  It is treated though as part of your booking deposit.  So, if you book a cruise with a $1 non-refundable deposit and then add CO at $500, you now have a non-refundable deposit of $501.

 

I only discovered this yesterday when another poster inquired in another thread about cancelling CO.  When reviewing my invoice for my upcoming cruise I booked it 3 weeks prior to final payment so it seemed silly to pay more for a refundable fare for 3 weeks so I went ahead and booked non-refundable and added CO.  HAL did not advise me that adding CO to a non-refundable deposit would result in the CO charge also being non-refundable.  It was though noted in the Cancellation Fees Schedule on the invoice.

In other threads people have mentioned that the cost of their CPP also increased when they added CO.

[Bostonjetset]

3 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Sorry you had bad experience on NCL.

might have been a one off thing as usually they are good.

Disney is a fair comparison if talking about money issues and customer experience as they are better

than HAL.

Things like once per day cabin service and charges for room service are not “one offs”. They are NCL’s current business model. They nickel and dime for everything. Things that are included on HAL. 
 

I still maintain that Disney is not a fair comparison because they cost a lot more. You say their service is a lot better but you pay a lot more for that better service so that isn’t surprising. It SHOULD be better for double the cost! Again, I get better customer service when I buy clothes at Neiman Marcus than I do at Macy’s. I also pay more for them. That makes sense and should be expected. 
 

I’m still not entirely sure what the core issue is with your booking though. Are you going to be out thousands of dollars by cancelling and rebooking?  You said you don’t have any promos and are in an inside stateroom. So if you have the insurance the only thing you should be out is the cost of the insurance and the 10/20% of the deposit that the insurance doesn’t refund. Which can’t be THAT much more than any fees other lines charge for changes. Unless you are on a grand voyage or just booked at a really bad time when there were absolutely no discounted deposits available in which case I’m sorry you did that but there are often cheap deposit deals on HAL. 

[Oceansaway17]

1 minute ago, Bostonjetset said:

Things like once per day cabin service and charges for room service are not “one offs”. They are NCL’s current business model. They nickel and dime for everything. Things that are included on HAL. 
 

I still maintain that Disney is not a fair comparison because they cost a lot more. You say their service is a lot better but you pay a lot more for that better service so that isn’t surprising. It SHOULD be better for double the cost! Again, I get better customer service when I buy clothes at Neiman Marcus than I do at Macy’s. I also pay more for them. That makes sense and should be expected. 
 

I’m still not entirely sure what the core issue is with your booking though. Are you going to be out thousands of dollars by cancelling and rebooking?  You said you don’t have any promos and are in an inside stateroom. So if you have the insurance the only thing you should be out is the cost of the insurance and the 10/20% of the deposit that the insurance doesn’t refund. Which can’t be THAT much more than any fees other lines charge for changes. Unless you are on a grand voyage or just booked at a really bad time when there were absolutely no discounted deposits available in which case I’m sorry you did that but there are often cheap deposit deals on HAL. 

apparently the agent tells me insurance would not get my $300 back.

 

All cruise lines are into the nickel and diming business these days but some more than others.

 

My core issue is I did not ask for a refund but to transfer deposit to another sailing on the same damn ship. Other cruise lines will do this thus keeping same reservation number. 

HAL decides by cancelling a reservation and starting all over again it becomes a semantics game.  In the end non refundable deposits should come with a warning "kiss the money goodbye if you want to change or cancel".   I guess enough rich older folks on longer cruises is what they want not us under 14 day solo interior folks.  And most definitely not kids or party people.  HAL is very clearly sending a subtle message for the clientele they want.  but those clientele have burned bridges with deposits on large suites and on longer cruises so a newer policy has come out.   I got caught up in that web.

 

It is bad business practice and some if just recently changed.   HALs promos and policies is like an obstacle course and very cloudy.   Sister companies do a better job. 

I guess most of you do not mind the fact that a solo person just wanted to make a change and lost $300 dollars.  

 

How unkind all of you are and you all deserve HAL who in my opinion need to be more diverse and have better management.   Back to lovely Carnival I go - a cruiseline most of you would never consider.  

[RuthC]

17 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

aw but they changed their terms recently after I booked my trip. 

No, they didn't. 
HAL has never let someone just move one reservation to another date. That's true even if it were the same itinerary and ship, let alone something different. 

You keep insisting that HAL has done that in the past, and only changed the rules after you booked. Not true. 
If all those other lines give you that, and that is what you want, then book with the other lines. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

14 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

apparently the agent tells me insurance would not get my $300 back.

 

All cruise lines are into the nickel and diming business these days but some more than others.

 

My core issue is I did not ask for a refund but to transfer deposit to another sailing on the same damn ship. Other cruise lines will do this thus keeping same reservation number. 

HAL decides by cancelling a reservation and starting all over again it becomes a semantics game.  In the end non refundable deposits should come with a warning "kiss the money goodbye if you want to change or cancel".   I guess enough rich older folks on longer cruises is what they want not us under 14 day solo interior folks.  And most definitely not kids or party people.  HAL is very clearly sending a subtle message for the clientele they want.  but those clientele have burned bridges with deposits on large suites and on longer cruises so a newer policy has come out.   I got caught up in that web.

 

It is bad business practice and some if just recently changed.   HALs promos and policies is like an obstacle course and very cloudy.   Sister companies do a better job. 

I guess most of you do not mind the fact that a solo person just wanted to make a change and lost $300 dollars.  

 

How unkind all of you are and you all deserve HAL who in my opinion need to be more diverse and have better management.   Back to lovely Carnival I go - a cruiseline most of you would never consider.  

Sadly what you are not understanding is that Holland America has never operated like RCI, Celebrity or NCL for transferring deposits and keeping that money with that reservation number. They never had, this is not something new for them. This is also the same process with Princess. You are trying to compare Oranges to Walnuts lol. It is what it is. Each voyage number is assigned a reservation number if you change voyages it must generate a new reservation number. Their system just does not allow a change. I understand that it is hard to understand if you are accustom to dealing with RCI, Celebrity and NCL. I am one to agree that HAL way of doing this is a bit old fashion compared to other lines. Holland America also has not helped themselves with over seas Call Centers and Reps who do not have a clue. I would much rather talk to NCL than an Overseas HAL Rep all day long. I will be the first to say that I much prefer NCL but the price point for HAL is often much cheaper and I got started cruising HAL way before I did NCL so I am far more invested. But one just has to know what each cruise line offers and except what they offer because they are not the same.