Alaska 2008 - just curious

[lasirene]

First off, who all is booking for Alaska 2008? Future hubby and I are very excited, just booked a category BB for May 28th out of Vancouver on the Ryndam, which will be our honeymoon cruise and also my first cruise ever. :D

I had done a lot of research beforehand and knew to expect that many verandah staterooms would be put on hold for cruisetour patrons. A suite was not in our budget, but we wanted a balcony at least for this special occasion and luckily the BB cabins were not closed and seem just as good (we aren't picky about location, ours is port-side and towards the front of the ship.)

Out of curiousity, when would you expect the other "closed" cabins to start becoming available? Do certain TA's have more clout than others in terms of reserving these staterooms for their clients before Holland America lists them as available? I have heard of people getting their TA's to fight for them to unlock these reservations, but at this point we are not interested in waging a weeks-long battle just to get a midship cabin.

Thoughts? :confused:

[NapTown Jim]

First off, congratulations on your impending maraige. :)

Secondly, we're planning on booking a 2008 Alaskan Cruisetour in September of that year so we can see (hopefully) the Northern Lights. You are quite right that HAL stubbornly reserves the balcony cabins for us land tour folks...but I have read tales on Cruise Critic of TAs with an excessively large boot that is used to kick down this door at Seattle that is keeping the cruise-only folks out of the verandah cabins. It can be done, but it takes (it seems to me) a very persistant TA with alot of experience in dealing with booking HAL cruises. In other words...you need a good TA to fight for you and get you exactly what you want.

[Krazy Kruizers]

[B]Congratulations on choosing an Alaskan cruise for your honeymoon. Our TA had to spend a couple of weeks fighting with HAL to get us a suite for back-to-back cruises. This happened in 2003 and 2006. She was able to point out to Seattle that we were spending more money on the back-to-back cruises than someone doing a 3 or 4 day land tour.

[hawgwildterry]

lasirene,

Yep, wife and I are booked on the Veendam's May 9, 2008 roundtrip out of Vancouver, BC. in an 'S' suite. Booked the cruise the first day that HAL opened it's reservations for Alaska 2008. :)

CC Member Tinknock50 is also booked on this same cruise with his mother. :)

Terry

[hogwildcruzers]

We celebrated our 1st anniversary on an Alaska cruise last year and plan our 3rd on a Alaska cruise in 08 on the Amsterdam.

[Brown Eyed Gurl]

On our particular cruise, the BBs & As are (or were) open, only the Bs are closed for now. We wanted a B, but settled for a BB. Our TA said she could waitlist us for a B, but we didn't want to wait or stress about it.

[Tinknock50]

lasirene,

Yep, wife and I are booked on the Veendam's May 9, 2008 roundtrip out of Vancouver, BC. in an 'S' suite. Booked the cruise the first day that HAL opened it's reservations for Alaska 2008. :)

CC Member Tinknock50 is also booked on this same cruise with his mother. :)

Terry

Hi Terry,
I am thinking of starting a Roll Call already on this cruise.

There is another lady I met on the Diamond who is now booked on the Veendam.:)

[duck tune]

DH and I are booked on the Volendam for July 27, 2008. We booked it when on the Ryndam March 15-23 "Shortened by the Norovirus Cruise" and although we picked a specific balcony cabin when doing the future cruise booking our TA now tells me that HAL is not letting her book any higher than Oceanview Category "C". I don't understand why we can be promised something onboard but told something different 3 months later. So we will have to wait and see.

[jtl513]

DH and I are booked on the Volendam for July 27, 2008. We booked it when on the Ryndam March 15-23 "Shortened by the Norovirus Cruise" and although we picked a specific balcony cabin when doing the future cruise booking our TA now tells me that HAL is not letting her book any higher than Oceanview Category "C". I don't understand why we can be promised something onboard but told something different 3 months later. So we will have to wait and see.I think I recall reading that the cabins chosen with the on-board Future Cruise Consultant are a "request", not a firm booking until it is completed with your home TA. It sounds like you waited too long before going to see your TA, and now the verandahs are all sold out. :(

[Tinknock50]

DH and I are booked on the Volendam for July 27, 2008. We booked it when on the Ryndam March 15-23 "Shortened by the Norovirus Cruise" and although we picked a specific balcony cabin when doing the future cruise booking our TA now tells me that HAL is not letting her book any higher than Oceanview Category "C". I don't understand why we can be promised something onboard but told something different 3 months later. So we will have to wait and see.

Just keep watching availibility. It is common for HAL to hold back all the balconies this far ahead. It does not mean they are sold out. They are just holding for cruisetour people and at some point will be released.

It would have been nice if they had let you have your chosen cabin, but this is how HAL does it every year.....at least the past couple of years.

[duck tune]

I think I recall reading that the cabins chosen with the on-board Future Cruise Consultant are a "request", not a firm booking until it is completed with your home TA. It sounds like you waited too long before going to see your TA, and now the verandahs are all sold out. :(

No, we didn't wait too long - I contacted her as soon as we returned and she had already received a copy of the booking from HAL. She said she was waiting for the prices to be released and once they were she contacted HAL and that is when she was told that the verandahs were not being released - she wasn't told they were sold out, just being held back. When DH and I met with the Future Cruise Consultant we were told that we would get our cabin request - she just could not quote the price until HAL released that information. I just wish that HAL would be upfront and tell people interested in Alaska what the situation really is and not give different information. I am wiser now and will think twice about booking a cruise onboard when full information is not available.

[duck tune]

Just keep watching availibility. It is common for HAL to hold back all the balconies this far ahead. It does not mean they are sold out. They are just holding for cruisetour people and at some point will be released.

It would have been nice if they had let you have your chosen cabin, but this is how HAL does it every year.....at least the past couple of years.
I am not getting too concerned about things now, however the Ryndam cruise that we were on is the one that was shortened by two days and the future cruise credit that DH and I took instead of onboard credit was automatically applied to this booking along with the $100 pp deposit. If things don't work out like we were told onboard, we can always transfer the booking to another cruise, and that we might do. I just wish that HAL had been upfront and certainly the cruise consultant who handled the booking should have told us if booking a veranda was not realistic.

In the meantime we are going to Alaska next week on NCL - a last minute decision made May 21 and we are excited!

[Tinknock50]

I am not getting too concerned about things now, however the Ryndam cruise that we were on is the one that was shortened by two days and the future cruise credit that DH and I took instead of onboard credit was automatically applied to this booking along with the $100 pp deposit. If things don't work out like we were told onboard, we can always transfer the booking to another cruise, and that we might do. I just wish that HAL had been upfront and certainly the cruise consultant who handled the booking should have told us if booking a veranda was not realistic.

In the meantime we are going to Alaska next week on NCL - a last minute decision made May 21 and we are excited!

Enjoy your Alaska cruise!

[duck tune]

Enjoy your Alaska cruise!
Thanks Sean - I hope you enjoy yours in September- looks like a wonderful cruise!

[Tinknock50]

Thanks Sean - I hope you enjoy yours in September- looks like a wonderful cruise!

I am very excited about it.....the 13 days will help me truly settle into shipboard life!

[janmcn]

Congrats on upcoming wedding! And your honeymoon cruise!
We just booked our two Alaska cruises for May 2008 today on Volendam and Veendam. (May 16,2008 Veendam NB, May 25 Volendam SB) We looked at other cruiseships, but in the end always return to HAL for their size, COMFY BEDS, room sizes, friendliness of the crew, food, and the new friends we always make.
You'll love Alaska cruising...this will be our third and fourth. SO relaxing.
Jan

[msweeble1]

We are booked on the July 6th on the Westerdam. We've been to Alaska twice on Princess. We are looking forward to trying HA.

Debbie

[sijid]

We're on the Volendam on Aug 31, 2008 (four of us). My only concern at this point is that our cabins are on the Dolphin Deck, aft, and I'm a little worried about noise. My TA asked for an upgrade, and my DH and I are waitlisted for a balcony, so we'll see. I'm wondering, though, if I should ask the TA to try for some different cabins, or if I should just wait to see what happens.