Canceled cruise!!

[LouisV]

Our TA emailed us yesterday to tell us that HA has canceled our Nov 2008 Caribbean cruise due to a group booking!! Has this happened to anyone and if so, does HA compensate you with anything to make up for the frustration and disappointment?

 

Mad as hell!

 

Maureen

[sail7seas]

Sorry for your disappointment but it is a year away so you should be able to find another cruise......hopefully.

 

I don't think you should expect much in the way of 'compensastion' seeing as the cruise is so far in the future.

 

 

This happens from time to time but it has been a while since we heard of a cruise being cancelled in favor of a charter.

 

Again, sorry for your disappointment.

[billroddy]

Here is what HAL's Contract states:

--------------------------------------

If a Cruise, Cruisetour or HAL Land Trip is cancelled before commencement, you will be entitled, as your exclusive remedy, to receive the applicable Refund Amount.

--------------------------------------

Bill

[LouisV]

Sorry for your disappointment but it is a year away so you should be able to find another cruise......hopefully.

 

I don't think you should expect much in the way of 'compensastion' seeing as the cruise is so far in the future.

 

 

This happens from time to time but it has been a while since we heard of a cruise being cancelled in favor of a charter.

 

Again, sorry for your disappointment.

 

The biggest disappointment was for my Mom. It was going to be her very first cruise...a Mom and Daughter thing! I feel like a shmuck since I've been telling her how great it was going to be! Oh well...

[the2ofus]

I'd be somewhat disappointed too, if I were in your shoes.

 

However, you still have plenty of time to find another cruise for the same time period. I'm sure you and your Mom will still have a wonderful time together. Don't let a little set-back dampen your enthusiasm.

[SeaCruiser_1]

Hello Maureen..

 

Yes, HAL cancelled one of our cruises due to a group booking of our sailing. I was a group leader of 28 people for an Alaskan cruise. I am not a travel agent. I just had a lot of people at work who trusted my organization skills.

What HAL did for us was let us choose ANY other 7 day Alaskan sailing. It was difficult getting all of the booked guests to settle on another week that would work. It happened that we chose a mid July date. The fares were more expensive but we all received comparable cabins at no additional charge to us. . Hal also made up the difference from our booked hotel the night prior to sailing and our group air fares. They also were so kind as to give each person a credit on their accounts. So as you see, we were very fairly treated. The HAL rep was very grateful that we graciously worked out a solution. We also had a terrific travel agent who acted as our advocate looking after our best interests.

 

I would check with your travel agent on just what can be done..

 

Sea..

[hammybee]

Hello Maureen..

 

Yes, HAL cancelled one of our cruises due to a group booking of our sailing. I was a group leader of 28 people for an Alaskan cruise.

I would check with your travel agent on just what can be done..

 

Sea..

 

What might be done to accommodate a booking of 28 people is probably different than what will be done for individual bookings.

 

Cruise lines are not under any obligation to do anymore than refund your deposit, when they cancel a cruise. It happens especially in the 8-12 month out point.

 

A balanced way to look at this is that, as passengers, we have up until final payent date to cancel our own booking and receive a full refund. HAL does not ask its customers to compensate them for their dissappointment when we cancel.:)

[kryos]

Our TA emailed us yesterday to tell us that HA has canceled our Nov 2008 Caribbean cruise due to a group booking!! Has this happened to anyone and if so, does HA compensate you with anything to make up for the frustration and disappointment?

 

Mad as hell!

I realize you may be disappointed, but what's the problem? The cruise is a year off ... surely you can plan something else for the same timeframe.

 

Groups are big money to the cruise lines and any cruise line will take a group booking any day of the week. So, this sort of thing happens all the time. With HAL, because of the mid-size of most of the ships in their fleet, I would imagine the ships get chartered even more often than other lines. This is simply because it is far easier for a charter company to fill a ship that only holds about 1,300 passengers than it would be to fill one of RCCL's huge ships that hold in excess of 3,000 passengers.

 

If you were a couple of months away from the sailing date, HAL would comp you ... with a nice discount on another HAL sailing, maybe some onboard credit, and airline ticket change fees. But since you are a year out I wouldn't look for too much in the way of compensation. They might give you a small onboard credit if you book another cruise, but that's about it.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kittikat]

Something very similar happened to me on a RC cruise, I had found a fantastic deal on a suite and had PAID IN FULL and when they canceled on me, I asked that they honor the same deal on ANY other dates of THEIR choosing since I am very flexible, and I was told I could "pay prevailing rate" or get a refund. Very poor customer service IMO. They lost a very good customer, as you see I'm with HAL now! I really hope you and your Mom can find something else that will suit you, I understand how dissapointed you must be.

[RevNeal]

The biggest disappointment was for my Mom. It was going to be her very first cruise...a Mom and Daughter thing! I feel like a shmuck since I've been telling her how great it was going to be! Oh well...

 

The best remedy I can think of is to select an alternate cruise for roughly the same time. HAL has 6 ships in the Caribbean in November 2008. Which cruise was cancelled -- the 7th, 17th, or 27th? Is timing so tight -- a year out -- that the cruise before or after won't work? If such is the case:

 

The Maasdam is doing 14-day cruises in November 2008.

The Zuiderdam is doing 10--day Panama Canal cruises in November 2008

 

Or, there are several 7-day offerings.

 

If it were me, I'd be shifting my booking to a different ship. :)

[kryos]

If it were me, I'd be shifting my booking to a different ship. :)

And I'd try shifting it to a longer than seven-day cruise. The longer the cruise, the less of a chance of it being chartered out to a group.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[RevNeal]

And I'd try shifting it to a longer than seven-day cruise. The longer the cruise, the less of a chance of it being chartered out to a group.

 

Rita ... well ... the Noordam is doing 10-day cruises in November 2008. So, that didn't help in this case. However, I tend to agree ... and the 14-day Maasdam cruise looks VERY tempting! :D

[kryos]

Rita ... well ... the Noordam is doing 10-day cruises in November 2008. So, that didn't help in this case. However, I tend to agree ... and the 14-day Maasdam cruise looks VERY tempting! :D

I think anything up to ten days could be susceptible to large groups or charters. Anything beyond ten days doesn't really lend itself to groups. It's hard to get enough people to build a charter ... or even a group ... when you do the longer cruises ... simply because lots of folks can't get that kind of time off from work. Even for a group, you need to cover the costs of your speakers, entertainers, teachers, and other folks who will get free passage. If you can't get enough people to sign up, you can't cover those costs. And if the cruise is too long, lots of folks will be shut out of it simply due to an inability to get away for that number of days.

 

That's why I prefer the longer cruises. I haven't gotten a cruise yanked from under me yet. :)

 

I only wish I could schedule a cruise ... of any length ... right now. :( I'm dying here. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[RevNeal]

I think anything up to ten days could be susceptible to large groups or charters. Anything beyond ten days doesn't really lend itself to groups. It's hard to get enough people to build a charter ... or even a group ... when you do the longer cruises ... simply because lots of folks can't get that kind of time off from work.

 

Tell me about it! :) I was warned by several people here on CC that the "Voyage of the Spammed" probably wouldn't sail as a full fledged group, with all the cruise-line perks, because cruises of 15-days don't ever make the full "Group" status. :) We shocked 'em. :) But it wasn't easy, and it took a while to build up to the critical mass needed.

 

I only wish I could schedule a cruise ... of any length ... right now. :( I'm dying here. :)

 

I understand, Rita. You've had a tough time.

[Jade13]

Tell me about it! :) I was warned by several people here on CC that the "Voyage of the Spammed" probably wouldn't sail as a full fledged group, with all the cruise-line perks, because cruises of 15-days don't ever make the full "Group" status. :) We shocked 'em. :) But it wasn't easy, and it took a while to build up to the critical mass needed.

 

.

 

 

What was the "Voyage of the Spammed" that I keep hearing about? What was the ship and date?

 

Btw, welcome back!

[SeaCruiser_1]

What might be done to accommodate a booking of 28 people is probably different than what will be done for individual bookings.

 

Cruise lines are not under any obligation to do anymore than refund your deposit, when they cancel a cruise. It happens especially in the 8-12 month out point.

 

A balanced way to look at this is that, as passengers, we have up until final payent date to cancel our own booking and receive a full refund. HAL does not ask its customers to compensate them for their dissappointment when we cancel.:)

 

 

I beg to differ with you, hammybee. Maureen and her mother had their hearts set on the November sailing. If Maureen made plans a year in advance selecting a ship, itinerary, date and deposited then I believe she should be compensated for her inconvenience. In my opinion EVERY passenger should be considered a "Very Important Passenger" At minimun a shipboard credit for their inconvenience is in order.

 

Maureen.. my advice is to get on the phone Monday and ask to speak with a supervisor at HAL In a polite manner plead your case and see what happens. Your travel agent could do this but if they failed to do anything thus far it may be up to you to be your own advocate.

 

Keep us posted!

 

Sea..

[jhannah]

What was the "Voyage of the Spammed" that I keep hearing about? What was the ship and date?

That was a Hawaiian journey aboard the Zaandam that a good number of CC members went on. It was October 7-22 last year. They experienced a major earthquake. You can see photos of the cruise on revneal's website.

[RevNeal]

What was the "Voyage of the Spammed" that I keep hearing about? What was the ship and date?

 

Btw, welcome back!

 

"The Voyage of the Spammed" was the first Holland America Line Cruise Critic Group to sail. It was in October 2006 on the Zaandam to Hawaii. 15 Days. It was a great cruise.

 

And, thanks. It's good to be back, though digging through the backlog of work has been tough. Coming home to 12-15 hour days is somewhat like whip-lash.

 

PS ... thanks, Jim. Just noticed that you posted the answer before I.

[CECRN]

We are sailing in November also. Which ship/cruise was cancelled?

[Lionesss]

Reading this web pages makes me wonder also.

What are the chances of one getting cancelled on a big cruise ship like the Mariner of the seas in August. 10th. to be exact. I would be so bummed if it happened because we plan our vacation about a year in advance, and it would be hard to re-schedule.

[LouisV]

And I'd try shifting it to a longer than seven-day cruise. The longer the cruise, the less of a chance of it being chartered out to a group.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

The best remedy I can think of is to select an alternate cruise for roughly the same time. HAL has 6 ships in the Caribbean in November 2008. Which cruise was cancelled -- the 7th, 17th, or 27th? Is timing so tight -- a year out -- that the cruise before or after won't work? If such is the case:

 

The Maasdam is doing 14-day cruises in November 2008.

The Zuiderdam is doing 10--day Panama Canal cruises in November 2008

 

Or, there are several 7-day offerings.

 

If it were me, I'd be shifting my booking to a different ship. :)

 

Our cruise that was canceled was the 14 day November 9th, 2008 one.

 

I specifically chose the Westerdam because I wanted a cruise on one of HAL's newer ships.

[LouisV]

We are sailing in November also. Which ship/cruise was cancelled?

 

It was the November 9th 2008 one on the Westerdam.

[kwpatel]

Our TA emailed us yesterday to tell us that HA has canceled our Nov 2008 Caribbean cruise due to a group booking!! Has this happened to anyone and if so, does HA compensate you with anything to make up for the frustration and disappointment?

 

Mad as hell!

 

Maureen

 

What would piss me off is that the TA emailed that news... something like that should have been handled with a phone call

[LouisV]

What would piss me off is that the TA emailed that news... something like that should have been handled with a phone call

 

She may have tried to call but I was out of office attending a Board meeting. I checked my emails on my Blackberry and there it was!

[Roz]

Pmatch,

 

I posted this on the group thread (above). The group that's chartered the ship is Let's Dance, a ballroom dancing group.

 

I know you're disappointed, but as others have pointed out, you're still a year out. This happens on all cruise lines, and is just the reality of modern travel.

 

In my business travels I've already been relocated to another hotel due to a group booking at the hotel where I had the reservation.

 

Roz