Unhappy w. HA, continued

[PaulaJK]

I posted on Fridayabout our problems with HA not sending
our tix for 12.26 departure because they couldn't find air
[which they have accepted the booking for and charged for].
TA worked all of Friday mroning on this issue. We were
verbally given flights,etc w. promise that tix would be
overnighted from HA directly to us. Returned home from
work to find tickets. Ship/cruise portion looks ok.
AIR IS FOR 12/19!!! AND IN my friends's name plus
another [unknown to us] person's. My name is not on the
air tickets. Have to await TA opening tomorrow. I have
cruised on lines from low to high, small to large,etc.....
and have never,ever run into such problems.

[jstrack]

That is truly terrible. Sorry to hear about your troubles and will pray you get the correct tickets. I have heard that the airlines are booked to most port areas as a friend is also leaving on the same day and talked about having to leave a day earlier. Perhaps a flight to a nearby city and a rental car will work if HA will pick up the charge for the inconvenience?

Best wishes

[sail7seas]

That's a disgrace. Whoever put those tickets in the mail to you should be fired IMO......at the very least, he/she certainly needs alot more training.

Fingers crossed for you they get their act together. Good luck.

[PaulaJK]

js for your good wishes. ...but we are rather
boxed in as we chose this cruise because we
celebrate Christmas. I would have understood
if a line had said "no" to booking the air, but
I don;t understand this charade. It seems sleazy.

[stanjj111]

Keep on going higher in the food chain until you get a positive response. Good luck.

[Krazy Kruizers]

PaulaJK

Hope you get eveything worked out today with your air tickets.

Also wonder if those air tickets with other people's names on them were needed by those people for the 19th?

Even if those tickets were meant for someon else for the 19th, and HAL overnighted them, those people wouldn't have gotten them on time - you said that you got them on the 20th?

[DoctorFeelgood]

I would agree with the above that you got someone else's tickets due to a clerical mixup. I would expect that those other pax will be able to get a new set of tickets printed at check in without too much difficulty. You will probably also be able to do the same.

Don't panic... things have a way of working out for the best.

[stanjj111]

Just wanted to check and see if your problems were being resolved.

[Giorgi-one]

Not to be a wise guy or I told you so, but this is another good reason for making your own air reservations.

[Orcrone]

Not to be a wise guy or I told you so, but this is another good reason for making your own air reservations.Giorgi-one,

There's pros and cons to everything. According to another thread the Maasdam is arriving way late today into Norfolk. Plenty of people will be missing their flights. Those that had their air booked through HAL will be taken care of. That will inevitably bring out the people that will say "this is another good reason to book through the cruise line".

And in all honesty it's not terribly unusual for a ship to be late and people to miss a flight. However, I've never heard of this situation before. In fact, each time I read it I keep wondering if we're not being told something. If the cruise and air were booked through HAL and the payment for voth has been made to HAL, then why is HAL not fully responsible for taking care of this. I don't understand how they "couldn't find air" for the passengers. Even if the block of seats they have are used up, they could still just book them on another flight.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Paula, this is so horrendous for you. I can't even imagine how I would feel right now in your shoes. I imagine you're up to your ears trying to get this straightened out and here it's supposed to be such a happy time.

I hope we'll hear from you soon that all is well. But no matter what, someone owes you a huge explanation.

[Giorgi-one]

Ocrone:

Why would HAL not "take care" of all passengers air fare? In any event, travel insurance covers this.

[ekerr19]

Not acceptable at all! We book our own air, but MANY people use HAL and they are paying premium (in my opinion) for their air tickets - this should never happen!

[gagirl789]

I am so sorry. I hope this works out for you. How stressful!

[PaulaJK]

Wednesday noon............HAL has promised that the
correct air tix will arrive today. Thank you for under-
standing the stress of this in this season. Hopefully,
I will have lots of good things to report about the
onboard experience although the very recent
posts on Osterdam are somewhat daunting.

[ekerr19]

Paula-

I hope you have a wonderful cruise. :) I look forward to hearing all about it when you return.

[jhannah]

Keep us posted so we'll know everything's okay. I'm so sorry you're having to go through all this. It's needless, IMO.

We have sailed on the Oosterdam's sister, Zuiderdam, and enjoyed the ship. I think you'll find the Oosterdam to be a great experience. I know this fiasco you've been through will tend to taint your thinking about this cruise. That's completely understandable. But here's hoping you can put it all behind you and enjoy to the fullest all the Oosterdam has to offer.

Good luck!

[Oceanwench]

Paula,

Enjoy your trip! You may find it a little cool down here in Fla. when you arrive [another cold spell forecast for the weekend!] but it's going to get warmer as you cruise!

BTW, I was on Oosterdam last month [seems like ages ago! time for another cruise!] and I enjoyed it very much.
The one negative I experienced was the dining room service. I thought it was slow and impersonal -- but it appeared the staff was working very, very hard.

I had excellent service on my previous HAL cruise [Zuiderdam in 03].

Stop by the piano bar and if Steve is at the keys, ask him to play "The Mailman Song."

Have fun!

[PaulaJK]

9pm Despite sworn promises that we would have the
corrected air tix today, we have received nothing so far.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Oh, Paula, simply not fair. This is all so unbelievable because as EKerr says, you really do pay a premium when booking your air thru the cruiseline and it's supposed to make it all easier, not harder.

Please let us know tomorrow when you get your tickets. Hopefully, this is the fly in the ointment and the rest of the cruise will be so fantastic that this will be nothing more than a lousy memory.

But when all is said and done, I would have a friendly little "chat" with HAL about the mess. Good luck! Let us know.

[stanjj111]

Hope that you get your tickets shortly.

[Orcrone]

Ocrone:

Why would HAL not "take care" of all passengers air fare? In any event, travel insurance covers this.Yes, travel insurance will take care of it (I think). But if the ship arrives late and you book your own air, HAL has no liability at all.

[critterchick]

It amazes me that in this day & age, HAL (or any other line, for that matter) can't arrange for you to get an e-ticket, thereby saving all the stress you're going through waiting for paper tickets to arrive. Maybe you could suggest that to them. Good luck!

[PaulaJK]

Our tickets remain 'snowed in'.
However, today the TA obtained a fax copy
of the tix.......so we fly! We catch up w.
other documents at the pier.

HA was just so negligent and sloppy that
it boogles the imagination.

Happy New Year to all.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Paula, have a wonderful trip. Try to put this mess behind you (for now) and just have the best time you can possibly have. Enjoy the holidays and let us know how it all went when you return!

[stanjj111]

glad you got your tickets

[szdiver]

Paula: Where are you flying out of? Hope it isn't one of the "snowed-in" airports. Delta at Cincinnati Airport did not send out any planes today. Good luck and have a great time.

[iluvcruzin]

Paula: Where are you flying out of? Hope it isn't one of the "snowed-in" airports. Delta at Cincinnati Airport did not send out any planes today. Good luck and have a great time.They ran out of de-icer. My son and his new bride flew in and out of Louisville for their honeymoon cruise. After all the people who were stuck at the airport at CVG I'm glad I booked them through Louisville. Their flight arrived yesterday on time and they drove the 90 mile trek back home. It was quite a shock for them to discover 20 inches of snow when they arrived here. Someone was praying too hard for a White Christmas.

[the2ofus]

Heard the following today from my son who lives in Cinci. The runways at CVG were cleared and planes could take off but they ran out of de-icer. Because of snow emergency road closures, the trucks coming in with de-icer were stopped at the Indiana state line, not very far west of the airport. It took some delicate negotiations between airport officials and ODOT or the Ohio State Patrol to allow the trucks to travel to the airport.