HAL website question...

[woodmill100]

We were thinking of adding onboard credit to our account over the comign months so when we take our cruise next year, our bill at the end won't be so much of a shock!

 

Coming from the UK, we're not just going to Alaksa but taking in California and New York too so this is going to be a pretty big and expensive holiday. Anything we can prepay now will help.

 

I am sure I read somewhere that guests have had problems with the HAL website in that it takes reservations/bookings etc but when you get to ship, they have no record of it. I can't find the thread! Can anyone confirm this or have I made it up!

[advocado]

Edinburgh! Great city. Wonderful people. And... the scotch. There are periodic glitches with the apparent disconnect between HAL's office and the ship. Some people had worse experiences than others. With the vast majority, everything worked out just as it was supposed to do. The best advice (it worked for me) is to bring a copy of your on-line confirmation and your credit card statement that demonstrates payment. Act immediately if what you ordered is not in your cabin at embarkation. Even a credit to your shipboard account should show up in your cabin as a "gift note". I would also call HAL's Ship Services dept a few days prior to departure. Confirm the status and get the name of the person you confirmed with.

[jhannah]

Go to the HAL website and place your mouse pointer over "For Booked Guests." Down at the bottom you'll see gift ordering. You will have to register on the site before you continue. Once done, enter the booking information (your own) and go from there.

 

Since the online credit card registration is working, this should work also. But if you want to go hard copy, there is a link to print out an order form you can then mail or fax in.

 

Good luck.

[jtl513]

I am sure I read somewhere that guests have had problems with the HAL website in that it takes reservations/bookings etc but when you get to ship, they have no record of it. I can't find the thread! Can anyone confirm this or have I made it up!

I don't recall a separate thread on this subject, but here's a story that I've told before: we phoned HAL and made reservations at the Pinnacle Grill for two, but did not pick a specific day/time (it was not possible then). On our next credit card bill there appeared not one charge, but two separate chages of $20 each (the price then). I thought that was odd, but didn't worry about it.

 

On embarkation day we went to the P.G. and chose the specific day and time. When we later got to the room there was a "gift card" that I unfortunately didn't look at closely enough, because when we arrived for dinner the Maitre d' said a "gift" for one - from my wife to me - had been paid for, and if we both wanted to eat there right then I would have to pay an additional charge and get it straightened out later. I agreed.

 

At the Front Desk they said they said they only had a record for one reservation and they would "check with Seattle". I went to the Internet Center, went online, and printed out a copy of my credit card bill showing the two charges. The Front Desk looked at it and again said they would "check with Seattle". About three days later I received a phone call saying that we had "a dinner for one" due us at the P.G., but we didn't want to go back again, we wanted the extra charge removed from the final bill. For some reason that I no longer recall, they "couldn't do that", and said we would have to take it up with the Seattle office.

 

It took writing a letter and waiting six weeks to get our extra $20 back.

[O2B@C]

We were thinking of adding onboard credit to our account over the comign months so when we take our cruise next year, our bill at the end won't be so much of a shock!.... Anything we can prepay now will help. I am sure I read somewhere that guests have had problems with the HAL website in that it takes reservations/bookings etc but when you get to ship, they have no record of it. ...

 

I think saving up for your trip in advance is a great idea, but permit me to suggest that it would make more sense to take that same money and just put it in a savings account, and then use it to pay the bills from your trip after you return. This would take a little self-restraint, but the money would earn a little interest for you while you were waiting, instead of sitting in HAL's pocket earning interest for them! (And possibly getting lost in the shuffle between "Seattle" and the ship.)

 

This plan also assumes your credit limit is high enough to cover all of your anticipated travel costs. But if not, you could get a debit card tied to the savings account so you could draw on it while traveling, or put the $ in your checking account right before you leave and use a debit card tied to your checking account. HAL, and car rental companies, will probably require a credit card rather than a debit card, but you can use the debit card to pay for other trip expenses.

 

Anyway, enjoy your cruise, and the rest of your trip!

[prplspud]

If I have extra money I'll sometimes put that on our credit card. Then I can enjoy extra tours or spending guilt free and know that I won't be coming home to horrific bills. I still have a record of what we've spent along with exchange rates, but a lower balance. I know this way your money doesn't make money for you, but I have found it useful before.

 

This will be our first cruise, so I'm sure it will be quite an eye opening experience for us (as well as a great time!)