Compensation for Lost Cruise Day? Ryndam

[kandlelite]

We took the Ryndam cruise May 3 - May 7th and lost the entire day May 3rd as the ship arrived over 10 hours late. Instead of boarding at 1 p.m. we boarded at 10 p.m. to find everything but the Lido Grill shut down for the night. Does anyone have past experience with compensation from HAL for missing part of a cruise? Tips?

[kryos]

Usually a cruise is considered as being for so many nights. You got the night onboard, so technically you had a full cruise.

However, it would seem that some sort of a shipboard credit should have been in order since you did not get to enjoy the ammenities of the ship for what should have been a partial day. If I were in your shoes, I would ask my TA to follow up with HAL in Seattle about this. Would seem to me that you should get something.

Funny. You say EVERYTHING was closed down for the night? Even the bars and lounges? They should have been going strong with entertainment in each. Also, how about the casinos and the shops?

The only reason I ask is because all these items are onboard revenue generators. I would think HAL would have ensured they were operating as normal.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[Bramcruiser]

I agree Rita but aren't the shops and casinos usually closed while a ship is in port? I'm not an expert but that is what I noticed on my cruises. It seems they only open when they push out into sea.

[kryos]

I agree Rita but aren't the shops and casinos usually closed while a ship is in port? I'm not an expert but that is what I noticed on my cruises. It seems they only open when they push out into sea.
Yeah, they are closed in port ... but should have opened up as soon as the ship sailed. So, the ship shouldn't have been dead on that first night. There should have been "diversions" available for passengers' enjoyment.

Don't misunderstand me ... I'm not saying no sort of compensation is warranted. The ship sailed very much later than usual, and as such passengers missed regular dining that evening. Their only option would have been the Lido. Usually HAL will give some sort of compensation for this ... usually some sort of shipboard credit. All I'm saying is that it probably won't be anything substantial ... maybe $50 bucks per person or something like that.

Blue skies ...

--rita

[jhannah]

I agree with Rita. You didn't lose a cruise day. You were late because of weather the ship encountered, yes ... but you boarded and sailed the same day.

Just wondering -- Did HAL set up any sort of food or drink in the terminal for those who were waiting for the ship to arrive?

[Odd Ball]

I don't believe compensation is called for but what bugs me is no food. I think they should have at least had a buffet set up for those boarding.

[sail7seas]

If the ship wasn't there, where were they to 'get' and prepare all this food? With security in ports the way it is, it sounds to me like a difficult thing to do........

Bring in pizzas? Then there is someone like me who says....I'm hungry but don't want all those empty, fat calories.....I want a salad.

IMO......providing food for waiting pax would be far easier said than done.

[peaches from georgia]

Haven't they at other ports given a voucher for waiting pax to get a meal in a restaurant. Surely there was someplace in the port area this could have been arranged. I know for sure that in Norfolk HAL did do something for the pax as I remember the posts- went to a hotel for food and were given a voucher for it? HAL wouldn't have to provide and prepare the food. The Ryndam was coming into Vancouver, correct? Canada Place? HAL certainly must have contingency plans when this happens in all their ports.

[Odd Ball]

Vouchers sounds like the answer.

[sail7seas]

We got a voucher for lunch when we waited to board Veendam in Tampa. I think the ship was late docking due to fog in the harbor....something like that. But, there were places within very easy walking distance from the terminal to the ship.

In FLL........it would not be quite so easy for many people to walk through Port Everglades to get to 17th street and a place for lunch.
Are there many places near Ryndam's dock?

I do think it reasonable for a pax to be able to have a reasonably priced lunch on HAL's 'treat'.

[dakrewser]

When your plane takes off 2 hours late - because the equipment was late arriving - what compensation do you get?

Or would you prefer that the captain had risked injury to those on board and "laid on the coal" to get to port on time???

You didn't miss any of your cruise as far as I can tell.

[H2Oregon]

We were on the May 3rd Ryndam cruise. Each passenger was told at check in that they would be reimbursed up to $25 US for lunch as long as they had a reciept from the rest. It seems to me it would have been better to just credit each passenger with the 25 dollars. You should have seen the lines at the office. :mad: This cruise did not refelct well on HAL. The delay was no fault of the cruise line, but it was not handled well in the terminal.

We had second seating for dinner. The second night of the cruise (first night in the dining room) the dining room was 20 minutes late opening. The dining room staff seemed to have the attitude of I got my tips already, so why put out any effort.

At the stop in Seattle, they decided to wash the ship directly above the passenger gangway just as everyone was preparing to leave the ship. There was a stream of water pouring down over the doorway and everyone was getting wet. The crew at the gangway thought it was amusing seeing the passengers get wet.

The topper for us was when we went to our cabin and opened the door to find a strange man standing in our bathroom. When I opened the door he said, "get out of my room", I said, " this is our room, how did you get in here". He was pretty drunk, and was convinced that he was in his own room. At this time, our cabin steward came up and said that he had let the man in our room because the man told him it was his room and he did not have his key.

It seems to me that HAL missed the boat on this cruise. This being a short cruise there were lots of first time cruisers and I am not sure if the experience will bring them back to cruising. Maybe they looked at this as a shake down cruise for the Alaska season.

This was our ninth cruise and second on HAL. Our first HAL cruise was a 14 day Rome to Copenhagen cruise on the old Noordam. She was not the best ship, but the crew and service were great. I hope the crew of the Ryndam will get it together.

[vandamone]

I was on this 4 nighter.
We received a $25.00 food voucher.
The Lido was open 9 till midnight.
I have nothing to complain about.

[localady]

And yet again, it is amazing how we all get on the same ship and have such vastly different experiences/opinions of the cruise.:eek:
I am sorry the ship was late, and being the first cruise of the season from Vancouver, I am sure it was a challenging embarkation.

[sail7seas]

When your plane takes off 2 hours late - because the equipment was late arriving - what compensation do you get?

Or would you prefer that the captain had risked injury to those on board and "laid on the coal" to get to port on time???

You didn't miss any of your cruise as far as I can tell.

I think there is a distinction here that makes it different than a flight delayed by two hours.

In an airport, (usually) you can find a place to have something to eat. In most cruise terminals, there is no food available.

A ship boarding at 10 P.M. is a lot more than a few hours late. If people arrived expecting to board at 11:30 as many of us do these days, that is a very long time for most people to not have food. For strapping, healthy big guys, they might be hungry but they'll survive. For an older diabetic, frail person.....it's a health issue IMO

I think something to eat is about all anyone should seek. I hate the word compensation but I don't look at providing lunch/snack as compensation in this scenario. I call it providing reasonable comfort and in some cases could cause more than discomfort if there is no access to food for 10 hours.

Seems to me they did just right by offering $25 for food. As long as there were places relatively nearby, HAL did the best possible IMO

[sail7seas]

We had second seating for dinner. The second night of the cruise (first night in the dining room) the dining room was 20 minutes late opening. The dining room staff seemed to have the attitude of I got my tips already, so why put out any effort.



........ I hope the crew of the Ryndam will get it together.


I am shocked how quickly a great crew could (?) become so bad in a matter of weeks. We were on Ryndam from April 2 though April 16 and we thought the crew fabulous.....most particularly the dining and bar staff. We had as good a dining service team as we have ever had on any ship. We have had as good before but I can't imagine how the team we had could have done a better job.

Guess we were just lucky??? And really lucky with the whole bar staff as well as we thought them friendly, efficient, and they provided us with excellent service each and every day aboard. I'm so happy we were lucky with the various stewards/bartenders with whom we interacted.

[H2Oregon]

We arrived at the terminal at 12:30 and were told to come back around 7:00. Later that afternoon we met some people and they asked us what boarding group we were in. They had arrived about 1:30 and were given a number to board. We went into the terminal and asked for a number and they said just come back around 7:00. I asked why we did not get a number when we checked in and they didn't have an answer. We ended up in the next to last group to board. We got on the ship at 11:30. So I guess technically we did get our first day of the cruise, all 30 minutes of it. They did make sure that the tips were deducted for all four days.

[H2Oregon]

[quote=sail7seas]I am shocked how quickly a great crew could (?) become so bad in a matter of weeks. We were on Ryndam from April 2 though April 16 and we thought the crew fabulous.....most particularly the dining and bar staff. We had as good a dining service team as we have ever had on any ship. We have had as good before but I can't imagine how the team we had could have done a better job.

I did hear several crew members mention that they were new to the ship and quite a few members of the crew changed in Vancouver.

[sail7seas]

I don't think a few changes in crew, even a few dozen changes spread among bar, cabin and dining stewards, make such a dramatic difference.

Certainly I was not on your cruise and cannot begin to say what did or did not occur.

I can only comment about the cruise DH and I totally enjoyed mere weeks prior to yours.

I am very sorry for all disappointments anyone experienced. It certainly started off with people tired, frustrated and maybe that mood carried over once aboard. I don't know but things always start off better with a bunch of happy, excited people boarding rather than a tired, disgruntled crowd.

No one's fault. ''Ship" happens.

[Atomica]

While I was down at Canada Place taking pictures of the Ryndam on May 3rd, the officer of the watch made an announcement that all newly embarked crew should meet in the Hudson Room (i think) for their safety/environmental training, so it's clear there was at least some change in staff.

About the vouchers, yes, there are plenty of places near Canada Place to grab a meal...everything from McDonalds to $50-a-plate restaraunts.

Just my opinion, but I saw how hard the people on the pier were working to get the Ryndam fueled, garbage offloaded, food loaded, luggage loaded, luggage unloaded...people were scurrying everywhere! What they pulled off was probably not easy, and you have to remember they did a turnaround with less time than they normally have.

I can sympathize with your frustration however; I'm betting a lot of pax were quite tired by the time they got onboard.

[sail7seas]

....the officer of the watch made an announcement that all newly embarked crew should meet in the Hudson Room (i think) for their safety/environmental training, so it's clear there was at least some change in staff.

That announcement is made on just about every cruise. Whether it is only a new doctor who boarded or 15 dining stewards etc .....that is part of their crew embarkation.

I honestly think it possible the mood of the passengers when they finally boarded was less than overflowing with joy and that mood influenced all that occured during their short cruise. I am very sorry for their disappoinment. I know I would feel exactly the same as them if I had been in their position.

[lougee1043]

i think the vouchers were fair compensation for the food -- the only thing that couldnt really be compansated for is the standing around or even sitting if you were lucky enough to get a chair til the boarding started --- ive seen the stuff that some people carry on board and i dont think that some of them were about to drag that stuff around looking for a restaurant---------------these things happen--------------remember the pax on the ship had all their travel arrangements totally screwed up --- wonder which side of the situation you really want to be on

hal lost some money on this late arrival --- nobody buying drinks at any of the bars during sail away and up to and after dinner ---- the casinos couldnt open til after the ship sailed and passed the 3 mile or is it 7 mile limit---------------

[karen&kevin]

I think there is a distinction here that makes it different than a flight delayed by two hours.

In an airport, (usually) you can find a place to have something to eat. In most cruise terminals, there is no food available.

A ship boarding at 10 P.M. is a lot more than a few hours late. If people arrived expecting to board at 11:30 as many of us do these days, that is a very long time for most people to not have food. For strapping, healthy big guys, they might be hungry but they'll survive. For an older diabetic, frail person.....it's a health issue IMO

I think something to eat is about all anyone should seek. I hate the word compensation but I don't look at providing lunch/snack as compensation in this scenario. I call it providing reasonable comfort and in some cases could cause more than discomfort if there is no access to food for 10 hours.

Seems to me they did just right by offering $25 for food. As long as there were places relatively nearby, HAL did the best possible IMO


Hi Sail,
Well said, but I just have to add one bit of information to your post. You mentioned that for an older diabetic it would be a health issue. I am in my mid-thirties and am diabetic. I have to eat every 2-3 hours, otherwise I risk unconciousness or at least, other, lesser, side effects from hypoglycemia.

I always carry food with me to treat lows but waiting for that many hours would certainly be upsetting, as it would not have been planned and I would not have enough food to last the day.

Sorry to hear that this was such an issue for the Ryndam passengers. I would have been upset as well! I hope everyone was made aware of the $25.00 food vouchers.
Karen

[vandamone]

Holland America also offered a free 3 hour tour of the city.

This was my 16 cruise with HAL and I think a lot of new cruisers were onboard. I had the 8:00 pm dinner seating and some were coming in at 9.00 and wanted to be seated.

This was a 4 nighter, but it was more port then cruising.
Port Angeles 7:00am - 5:00 pm
Seattle 7:00am - 6:00 pm
Victoria 7:00am -11:59 pm

[sail7seas]

Hi Sail,
Well said, but I just have to add one bit of information to your post. You mentioned that for an older diabetic it would be a health issue. I am in my mid-thirties and am diabetic. I have to eat every 2-3 hours, otherwise I risk unconciousness or at least, other, lesser, side effects from hypoglycemia.


Karen

Yes, Karen.....of course, that situation could/would effect far more people than just the frail, senior diabetic person. I was only using that as an example. Folks with all sorts of medical issues would be effected. All of us would certainly be hungry.

I'm happy to hear that HAL did what it could to make it possible for everyone to find some comfort/food and IMO they acted very appropriately.

I'm sure they would much rather these situations never arise, but, weather delays will always be a part of all travel.

[jhannah]

While I was down at Canada Place taking pictures of the Ryndam on May 3rd, the officer of the watch made an announcement that all newly embarked crew should meet in the Hudson Room (i think) for their safety/environmental training, so it's clear there was at least some change in staff. The same announcement was made on the Oosterdam that day as we were about to disembark.

[dakrewser]

I think there is a distinction here that makes it different than a flight delayed by two hours.

In an airport, (usually) you can find a place to have something to eat. In most cruise terminals, there is no food available.

Sorry, Sail, but think a minute - no one was forced to wait in the terminal at Canada Place (nice though it is). There are dozens of places to eat within a block or so. It's a much better situation that, say the terminal at FLL which has virtually nothing until you go thru security and not much then.

[sail7seas]

I've never been to Canada Place. ;)

I have no idea what is nearby. I don't know a thing about the terminal.

I also have no idea how much carryon luggage some folks may be dragging around with them.

Remember the conversation we had yesterday about 110 pounds of wine? :)

[holly05]

Our travel agent told us to be down at Canada Place at 3:30 in the afternoon. It was a very long day...people were exhausted...lineups everywhere.

Getting on the ship at 11:30 PM...doesn't really count for a full day.

[kandlelite]

As far as sailing on the day of the cruise .... nope! The Ryndam didn't sail until after midnight, so that was our second cruise day. Nope, casino and shops never opened, I think one bar did but not sure as, after being up since 5:30 a.m. and wandering about Vancouver for hours, my party and I were done for the night. We were told to leave the terminal and not to return as the Oosterdam was coming in, so no room for us to wait there. Yes, there are restaurants in Vancouver, but we are talking about expecting to board at 11:30 a.m. and not boarding until 10:30 p.m. - a very long day to wander about a city dragging carry on luggage.

Not the same as a two hour delay. People were furious. No compensation offered except for a $25 food voucher, if receipts were provided. Interesting in that we had already paid well for that missed meal! A cruise is not the sleeping ... or am I mistaken? I adore all the activities available in the afternoon/evening/late night on board ... not curling up in my cabin. And I am blaming nobody for not preparing the ship fast enough or asking anyone to do anything unsafe. Just find it odd indeed that cruises are sold on the basis of days - a four day cruise always costs more than a three day for similar cabin - so paying for four days and only getting three seems not quite right. After all, if HAL cancels the cruise partway through they compensate ... so what's the difference with missing time on the front end compared to the back end? Why is it me paying for the weather ... isn't this a cost of doing business?

And where is customer good will in all of this? This was a horrible cruise, from start to finish with numerous other problems adding to the already disgruntled mood. A little goodwill from HAL would have gone a long, long way. :confused:

[dakrewser]

Logically extending your thinking - should the cruise line have charged those getting off for an "extra day" aboard? After all, they got to eat that meal you supposedly missed...

The $25 they offered, by the way, is a lot more than it costs them to feed you lunch aboard ship...


Now, I do think they could have arranged an area to store your carry-ons for you, if not in Canada Place then in a nearby hotel. But they did pay for your lunch, offer a city tour for no charge and do their best to turn the ship around quickly yet you want even more on top of that. AS we constantly had to remind our four children while they were growing up, "life isn't fair."

[michmike]

Realize it isn't quite the same scenario... but... have been scheduled to stop at HMC 5 times now and only actually set foot there twice. All we ever get is a stinkin glass of champagne and I don't drink champagne. Am I due compensation?

Don't know the dynamics of what happened to cause the situation, but one thing we all need to keep in mind when traveling is that the unexpected can and will occur. We just have to learn to roll with the punches and fight the urge to get petulant. Especially considering that the folks we choose to vent on when we do so are not the ones who caused the problem nor are they in a position, generally, to solve the problem. They are simply the messenger.

If you want everything to function w/o a hitch and to be exactly as it would be at home, then you've no choice but to stay home.

Had it been us, and depending on how certain HAL had been about what time we WOULD be departing, we'd likely have taken a room at a local hotel and kicked back and relaxed and either napped or read our books. Sure there's an expense involved, but hey, we're on vacation and looking to loose the stress, not generate more.

[Scrumpy]

At what point was it known that a receipt would be required for the $25 voucher? It's not a lot of money, but it's money all the same. Also, I'd think people basically lost out on lunch and dinner - and got to drag carry-ons all over town for 10-11 hours. I'd think at least $25 p.p. cabin credit would be fair - and a lot easier on pax. Really, for 2 meals, $25 is not a lot to ask. The receipt business really bothers me because if people didn't know to keep it, then they wouldn't be reimbursed anything, right?

If I'd been stuck with carry-ons all day, I'd probably have been lobbying for a massage, to be frank. No way would I be able to handle that for 10 hours without having neck/back pain the next day. Sure, unexpected things happen, but it's one thing to contemplate that safe in our chairs and another to be expected to happily roll with substantial delays and inconvenience in a strange city, with luggage, and without a plan.

[holly05]

hi: We were twenty-five in our group.........we were given the $25.00 voucher, but not one of us was offered the free City Tour, as someone mentioned.

Holly
caradon@telus.net

[KAKcruiser]

I think that missing a port is different than leaving so late. When you miss a port you are still on the ship and have all the comforts available. I know this wasn't HAL's fault and I can understand there was probably a certain amount of confusion at the port. It was nice that they offered a lunch voucher and a city tour. But, probably something else should be done for compensation. Those vouchers they give out for future cruise travel are usually hard to use so my suggestion would be a shipboard credit. I don't really know how much it should be but maybe $100 would be reasonable. I would be very disappointed if I had to start my cruise like this.

[karen2cruz]

This happened to us in October in Houston, not on HAL. We arrived about 11:30 am to the port (because the hotel had 11 am check out time.) We knew that the ship was going to be late, having checked Cruisecritic the night before and it was the onboard posters who informed us, not TA's or the cruiseline. They set up a refreshment area and chairs, and arranged buses for city tours. Was it inconvenient? a little. Did I expect compensation? no. Have to agree with Mitchmike to plan for the unexpected and be grateful when things go without a hitch, or dont travel.

My worst "almost" travel experince was catching a flight to New York for a big trip to Europe. One of the plane's engine wouldnt work before take off. We sat at the airport for two hours wondering if we would go at all- would they fix the engine, arrange a new plane or cancel altogether? Luckily for me I always give myself large gaps between connecting flights. This one happened to be a 5 hour layover. Half the passengers missed their connections to europe. We did finally fly out with a fixed engine (bird decided to get sucked into it on the flight before ours). I had two hours to spare. (FYI, I always get travel insurance and, had I missed the connection, the insurance would have kicked in for reimbursement= peace of mind).

By the way, on that October cruise we also encountered hurricane Rita (the one that knocked out Cozumel and Cancun) and missed two ports. We still had a wonderful cruise and met lots of fun people.

Karen

[louiesowner]

I was on the Oosterdam that came in late just like the Ryndam. We were never told the tour of the city was free. No information was given about that. It would have been nice if they had set up some drinks and stuff at the port while we sat and waited for the people to actually get organized. Wow were people (the Holland America people at the port) disorganized. They didn't know which end was up. We were told to go to 3 different places to "sign in" and then we find out we are just given a number, but the people before us got to sign in... Oh well... we took it in stride and were just happy to get on board eventually. But there were many many people complaining. We just smiled and said... "what can you do". I just think it could have been handled differently. The people at the pier needed to be better informed. My opinion.

[kandlelite]

Just wondering, not used to coming on to a board, asking what is usual, and having replies chastising me for wanting "more" and not understanding that life isn't fair. Hmmmm ... makes one wonder who's behind these replies?

Perhaps if you cruise all the time, it's easy to shrug off a missed day or two. I'm still at the newbie 'tremdously lucky to cruise" stage and I save my pennies for quite some time before another cruise is possible. And I do wish people would read these posts - we didn't just miss lunch as some suggest, we sailed the next day for goodness sake! Yes, it does cost much less than $25 to feed us lunch on board, but finding lunch, snacks, a pool, a lounge, a wonderful dinner in an elegant dining room, a live stage show, a casino and a live band costs just a tad more ... and that's what we missed. But that's what we paid for, regardless. So please, let us not get carried away with how generous HAL was - we had paid for much, much more.

Again, is there no cost to doing business? My ticket contract says that missed cruise days are prorated according to services received. Is this not so? I'm trying very hard to have a whole lot of empathy for the plight of HAL in all of this, as some on this board would have me do, but I'm afraid my wallet is a tad leaner than their's.

Anyhow, I've said my bit, and perhaps this forum isn't the appropriate avenue. Thanks all for listening!:rolleyes:

[sail7seas]

If the late arrival was the fault of the cruiseline, I would agree there might be a reasonable expectation for more.

Weather delays are no more the fault of a cruise ship than the fault of an airline.

It falls into the act of nature category.

HAL is not at fault and IMO does not owe anything more than a courtesy such as the $25 voucher for lunch.

I have been there.....I'm not just talking from my comfy easy chair. We were supposed to sail from FLL. Hurricane Wilma hit south Florida and Miami and FLL airports were closed. Ultimately, the ship sailed from Orlando. Of course that involved additional expense to us.

Was that HAL's fault they had to sail from Port Canaveral. Port Everglades was Closed. It was not HAL's fault.

They made the best alternate arrangements possible and while it certainly was stressful and unpleasant making all the changes........we did it. We went and we had a wonderful time.

If you are going to do any sort of travel (not just cruising) you have to learn that 'stuff' happens.

We all want our value for our money but we all need to be realisitic as well, IMO

[arzz]

I agree with Sail. I was on the Volendam when Wilma hit Florida and was one of those who left the ship in Port Canaveral having made travel arrangement home from FLL. On board the day before we were scheduled back in FLL we knew all day that when and where we would disembark was up in the air. It was evening before they announced that we would definitely be going into Orlando. By then we also knew that the southern Florida airports were closed and that our flights home had been canceled. We had received e-mails from family emploring us to buy water and bring food from the ship if we had to go ashore in FLL as they had no power, no gasoline, no food, closed airports, etc.

Frankly even though it involved some stress and extra time to redo our travel arrangements (we did our flights independently) we were ecstatic that the cruise line had not taken us into Fort Lauderdale. Though we did not expect it HAL also provided complimentary transfers from the port to the Orlando airport (about an hour away). It was a simple gesture but to us that was going above and beyond.

I do not remember folk asking HAL for extra compensation -- it was not their fault and what else were they to do? They brought us back home, or a reasonable facsimilie of home, safe and sound.

[Taylor]

We were on the Ryndam also and there were busses (very nice touring) running all day (you could get off or on at several stops) we did not have to fly and it was a beautiful sunny day so we had a wonderful time touring the city and stopping at several points of interest and a great dinner at the Keg on Granville Island. I was very sorry for the people leaving the ships (the Oosterdam was also late) who had missed their flights and had to stay over.(and had a really rough trip) and also the elderly and handicapped but that is the chance you take .
We also had a $25. per person allowance for dinner but our tips for 4 nights were added on to our bill. we had no problem in Seatle but did see them washing the side of the ship where passengers were disembaking.

[jasng]

We were scheduled on the Oosterdam on the 3rd also. The limo dropped our group off around 11:00 and got the bad news. You have to make the best of life and we had a great day being tourists in our own town. We had a great time. Our bus driver was great even if most of what he was telling to tourists was somewhat embelllished;) . We sailed sometime after midnight. I didn't think Steaks were normal fair in te Lido so I think they were tring to make things up. We got our $25 per credit for our $10 in receipts. I think they made a good effort in a less than perfect situation. Could it be better OF COURSE.

This was our Second HAL cruise and have cruised on Carnival and we where not that impressed with the dining room staff and the Cruise director but thats what comment cards are for.

Overall for the price it was a good tiem away without the kids.

[louiesowner]

Count yourself lucky. We had not knowledge about the city tour. We would have loved that. Knowone told us anything about that. I even asked our Holland America rep and she knew nothing of it either. I think consistancy would have been nice. But I agree.... you can't do anything about it, so you make the best of it.
There was a cruise director on the ship? LOL just kidding.