Has anyone heard about a cruise reimbursement for the cloudstrike computer glitch?

[Goldenrosebags]

We we're about to leave for a B2B the day cloudstrike hit. They canceled and rescheduled our flight 5 times. We missed the first leg of the B2B and we're able to catch the 2nd. We sent 3 emails to HAL and haven't heard back at all. Has anyone that missed their cruise for the same reason heard anything back? We had travel insurance and they've given us some money for travel and hotels but not for the missed cruise. Any suggestions?

[Goldenrosebags]

I should also say we booked our air through HAL.

[TRLD]

Did you call HAL to notify them of the flight cancellation before the cruise sailed? If so what did HAL say about getting you caught up with the ship or making other flight arrangements?

[Torquer]

That is certainly an interesting situation.  Flight Ease says they will help you to get to your cruise if a flight is delayed cancelled.  But I've never seen this severe of a case where you missed the entire cruise.  How many days was the first leg of the B2B that you missed?  I know that air travel was a mess for a couple days, but it is hard to imagine that you couldn't find any flight to allow you to join after 2-3 days into the cruise.  And what does the travel insurance company say, and why are they refusing to pay for the missed cruise?  If there really was no flight available to get you to some part of the cruise, then it seems like you missed the cruise due to no fault of your own and the travel insurance needs to pay.

[Goldenrosebags]

26 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Did you call HAL to notify them of the flight cancellation before the cruise sailed? If so what did HAL say about getting you caught up with the ship or making other flight arrangements?

Yes. We called as soon as we were cancelled. Delta kept cancelling and rescheduling us. 5 times! The first time we called they said they had to get permission for us to get on at the next port and to call back the next day. We did and they knew nothing about that. We spent 13 hours, literally, on the phone with them that day. We were hung up on 3 times. They never tried to get us in a different airline. Finally they told us they couldn't do anything for us until we landed in Amsterdam. When we landed in Amstersam, 5 days into the first leg, they were closed so we got a hotel for 1 night. When we finally got ahold of them in Amsterdam they told us to get a couple more days in Amsterdam and they would reimburse us. They said to catch the 2nd leg. Then even though we had paid for a transfer they told us to find our own way to Rotterdam and they would reimburse us. We've gotton no response of any kind. We don't expect money back. We would just like credit for another cruise.

[Goldenrosebags]

31 minutes ago, Torquer said:

That is certainly an interesting situation.  Flight Ease says they will help you to get to your cruise if a flight is delayed cancelled.  But I've never seen this severe of a case where you missed the entire cruise.  How many days was the first leg of the B2B that you missed?  I know that air travel was a mess for a couple days, but it is hard to imagine that you couldn't find any flight to allow you to join after 2-3 days into the cruise.  And what does the travel insurance company say, and why are they refusing to pay for the missed cruise?  If there really was no flight available to get you to some part of the cruise, then it seems like you missed the cruise due to no fault of your own and the travel insurance needs to pay.

Travel insurance says they don't cover that. Which is a shock and I guess means we need to find different travel insurance.

[TRLD]

27 minutes ago, Goldenrosebags said:

Yes. We called as soon as we were cancelled. Delta kept cancelling and rescheduling us. 5 times! The first time we called they said they had to get permission for us to get on at the next port and to call back the next day. We did and they knew nothing about that. We spent 13 hours, literally, on the phone with them that day. We were hung up on 3 times. They never tried to get us in a different airline. Finally they told us they couldn't do anything for us until we landed in Amsterdam. When we landed in Amstersam, 5 days into the first leg, they were closed so we got a hotel for 1 night. When we finally got ahold of them in Amsterdam they told us to get a couple more days in Amsterdam and they would reimburse us. They said to catch the 2nd leg. Then even though we had paid for a transfer they told us to find our own way to Rotterdam and they would reimburse us. We've gotton no response of any kind. We don't expect money back. We would just like credit for another cruise.

Was your insurance through HAL or another company?

[TRLD]

59 minutes ago, Torquer said:

That is certainly an interesting situation.  Flight Ease says they will help you to get to your cruise if a flight is delayed cancelled.  But I've never seen this severe of a case where you missed the entire cruise.  How many days was the first leg of the B2B that you missed?  I know that air travel was a mess for a couple days, but it is hard to imagine that you couldn't find any flight to allow you to join after 2-3 days into the cruise.  And what does the travel insurance company say, and why are they refusing to pay for the missed cruise?  If there really was no flight available to get you to some part of the cruise, then it seems like you missed the cruise due to no fault of your own and the travel insurance needs to pay.

Not sure about that. All depends upon the exact coverages in the policy. This is an area that falls through the cracks of many travel policies. They would cover expenses related to the delay, up to that limit, but the cruise itself maybe not.

[Goldenrosebags]

17 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Was your insurance through HAL or another company?

Another company

[Goldenrosebags]

12 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Not sure about that. All depends upon the exact coverages in the policy. This is an area that falls through the cracks of many travel policies. They would cover expenses related to the delay, up to that limit, but the cruise itself maybe not.

Thats exactly what they did. To be fair, we feel like Delta did right by us. They kept finding us new flights and upgraded us to those nice seats that lay completly flat. And also gave us other things. But a weeks worth of cruise in Norway is too much to right off.

[TRLD]

1 minute ago, Goldenrosebags said:

Thats exactly what they did. To be fair, we feel like Delta did right by us. They kept finding us new flights and upgraded us to those nice seats that lay completly flat. And also gave us other things. But a weeks worth of cruise in Norway is too much to right off.

We ran into something similar a few years ago when we were on the way from Honolulu to Tahiti to catch a cruise, a typhoon was near and our ability to fly out the next morning was uncertain. The airline only did the flight twice a week so if the flight could not go we would miss the cruise. The insurance company said that any delays would fall under travel delay and that was the limit.

 

 

[TRLD]

I think your best is to appeal to HAL referencing the flight ease guarantee. I would document as professionally as possible the events as they occured including your  contacts with Flight Ease, including the final one when they said they could do no more.  Point out that even with your and their best efforts, that because of the unusual situation, they were unable to live up to their guarantee and that you would like to request a future cruise credit equal to the fare of the missed cruise.

 

I would contact both HAL customer service and flight ease support and inquire who you might send that request to.

 

Cruise lines are very slow in responding to electronic communications. They are not very good in handling unusual  circumstances like yours.

Edited August 24 by TRLD

[colin v]

Don’t get me wrong - I would be beyond angry - but where did they fail?  They got you to the ship as per the guarantee. Does the guarantee say they will reimburse/credit for any missed sailing days?  If you booked your flight via a random travel agent would they reimburse your missed cruise?
 

Delta was hit hard by the tech issue unfortunately.  I bet tech failures are lumped into guarantee exclusions/limitations. 
 

I’m not defending anyone I am just asking questions that come to mind since it’s not my $$$$ on the line.

[Mary229]

I have had an expensive situation with HAL, nothing related to yours. It took 3 months and there were many long lulls in conversation.  Be sure you have written a concise letter detailing the precise course of events (can be sent by email).

[Goldenrosebags]

4 hours ago, colin v said:

Don’t get me wrong - I would be beyond angry - but where did they fail?  They got you to the ship as per the guarantee. Does the guarantee say they will reimburse/credit for any missed sailing days?  If you booked your flight via a random travel agent would they reimburse your missed cruise?
 

Delta was hit hard by the tech issue unfortunately.  I bet tech failures are lumped into guarantee exclusions/limitations. 
 

I’m not defending anyone I am just asking questions that come to mind since it’s not my $$$$ on the line.

They actually didn't get us to the ship. We got ourselves to the ship. We we're in Amsterdam for 2 full days and they never made any effort to get us to the ship in that time. Told us to book more rooms in Amsterdam and they would reimburse us. Told us to find our own way to Rotterdam and they would reimburse us. It's been silent on their end since.

[Goldenrosebags]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I have had an expensive situation with HAL, nothing related to yours. It took 3 months and there were many long lulls in conversation.  Be sure you have written a concise letter detailing the precise course of events (can be sent by email).

Thank you. We we're trying to decide how long to give them. Seems like more time is needed.

[Goldenrosebags]

9 hours ago, TRLD said:

I think your best is to appeal to HAL referencing the flight ease guarantee. I would document as professionally as possible the events as they occured including your  contacts with Flight Ease, including the final one when they said they could do no more.  Point out that even with your and their best efforts, that because of the unusual situation, they were unable to live up to their guarantee and that you would like to request a future cruise credit equal to the fare of the missed cruise.

 

I would contact both HAL customer service and flight ease support and inquire who you might send that request to.

 

Cruise lines are very slow in responding to electronic communications. They are not very good in handling unusual  circumstances like yours.

Thank you. I might write them another letter thats more detailed and then give them more time. We're not in a hurry so much. Just felt like we we're being ignored.

[Goldenrosebags]

Plus, I would have expected them to do something to get us there faster. If they had just changed our airline maybe. But they let Delta continue to bump us. And it was the 13 hours on the phone one day and the 3 hangups. They hungup 1 time before they ever picked up. But twice they asked for our phone number so they could call us back if something happened and they never called us back. Then, the last guy, after 13 hours mind you, said there was nothing he could do for us and to get ourselves to Amsterdam. 🤷

[Goldenrosebags]

8 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I have had an expensive situation with HAL, nothing related to yours. It took 3 months and there were many long lulls in conversation.  Be sure you have written a concise letter detailing the precise course of events (can be sent by email).

Do you have an email that you sent your's too? I'm just wondering if it's different than the one they gave us on the ship.

[POA1]

I might have missed this, but did you have HAL insurance? Insurance through the airline? 3rd party coverage? Credit card coverage?

[Goldenrosebags]

10 minutes ago, POA1 said:

I might have missed this, but did you have HAL insurance? Insurance through the airline? 3rd party coverage? Credit card coverage?

We have 3rd party coverage.

[Mary229]

37 minutes ago, Goldenrosebags said:

Do you have an email that you sent your's too? I'm just wondering if it's different than the one they gave us on the ship.

I think I used guestservices@hollandamerica.com. 

[Goldenrosebags]

Just now, Mary229 said:

I think I used guestservices@hollandamerica.com. 

Thank you. I think that's what we have also.

[POA1]

21 minutes ago, Goldenrosebags said:

We have 3rd party coverage.

You paid the 3rd party insurer. Why are they making you run down the solution? That's kinda the reason why you paid them.

[Goldenrosebags]

I know. I think we need to look for a new insurer. They've covered some of what we had to spend which is why we're not asking HAL to cover any expenses.