Qcruise

Our draw is the ship....the relaxing feeling that only sailing on the ocean can bring.....unpacking one time and seeing multiple places.....evening entertainment and a simple walk back "home" to our cabin.  Honestly I think we could "roll" with changes in food venues/options and procedures.......don't like being land locked.  Praying they can figure out how to go forward.

Well,  we know the cruise industry has had to be "ahead of the curve" as far as careful monitoring of health and infection control in order to maintain a business.  Noro virus while not deadly will shut down a cruise ship quickly,  and they have been using processes and procedures over the years to control best they can.  So, going forward just how will they fill ships.....?  Can you see a test for all passengers at time of embarkation...?   Until they produce a test that is cheap enough and quick enough how will the industry go forward...?   Any ideas....?  Because we don't plan on putting on our "land locked" clothes forever.....let me just say.

HAL did step up last night and began to cancel it's operations,  through April 14th at this point,  we're waiting for our date to be included and the offer seems very good.  Once things get back to normal we'll jump on a last minute deal.

4 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

I cancelled the same cruise on Tuesday. Was given a credit to our credit card of 50% of the base fare PLUS the taxes and fees.  This posted to my credit card on Thursday.  Then I also received a Future Cruise Credit for the other 50% of the base fare.  This FCC must be booked by Dec 31, 2020 for a cruise prior to Dec 31, 2021.

 

While I would rather have a full "cash" refund, I found this to be acceptable, especially since we cruise alot with HAL and already have two others booked.

 

Is this what you were given/promised?

I was looking at numbers that did not add up to our full amount.....but our TA booked for another couple and she may have been quoting their numbers.   As long as we get back all of our $$$ divided up however we'll be happy. 

Yes but as of now they're not giving us our total money back.....only 50%.  Half as credit and half to card.  

As of now HAL is only offering us 50% back as future cruise credit......they had better step up like Princess......if they want us back.

1 minute ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

I am confused.   Did you get your money back?  Are you out any cash?   Do you want a full refund plus 100% future cruise?

 

 

No we only want all of our money held as future CC.......they at this time will only give us 50%

In light of the Canadian government closing all cruise ports today including Seattle and Vancouver until July.....our TA called them to get our cruise cancelled April 28th repo for Alaska season and was told only a 50% credit for future cruise.  They need to give full credit now......this is unacceptable and they need to step up like Princess and take care of it's customers if they expect us to book again.  Willing to take a future credit but only at 100%.........do the right thing HAL.  Just what are they waiting for.....???  

14 minutes ago, Niagarawine said:

No they should refund my money,ports are closed

They are refunding taxes and port charges only......your fare is held for future cruise......that's what Princess is doing.

2 hours ago, Niagarawine said:

I contacted Holland ,think they should cancel cruises as per Princess, and refund our fares. I would be much more amenable to sailing with their brand when this virus dissipates if they show good judgement and concern for their loyal customers by doing the right thing at this time.

Fares aren't refunded.....Princess is keeping your money towards a future cruise and adding an OBC......that's reasonable.......HAL should do the same.

In light of current events and how it's unfolding......Seattle is off the table and Vancouver is considering closing it's cruise port......no Alaska cruises until further notice....??   Not good.

Viking suspended for 30 days......I would expect all others to follow suit.......our April 28th cruise will most likely not happen.   Very sad

We're sailing on the Koningsdam April 28th from San Diego to Vancouver.....the prices have plummeted so I'm guessing folks are bailing from the cruise.  That means less people, more room for us and great service from the crew.  We plan on staying the course until closer to the March 31st date to cancel......hoping the situation will determine our ulitmate plan by then.

2 minutes ago, WVHillbilly said:

Thank you was just wondering if the problems noted were limited to one deck or rather scattered about the ship

It was our experience that it was all over the ship.  Our friends were on a different deck and got moved along with other cabins due to problems.   We spoke with a couple up on lido during our Victoria stop who told us their cabin had running water down their walls.....it sounded awful.

2 minutes ago, WVHillbilly said:

 

If I may ask what deck/cabin were you in?

We were on Caribe deck port side but can't remember the cabin #......sorry.

You do need to be aware and ready for problems RE the Star.  We were aboard her last September and experienced the following......our cabin had multiple toilet issues never resolved throughout the week making certain times very inconvienient having to go elsewhere for a bathroom.  Cabin next to us had dripping water from ceiling in their doorway all of the cruise.  Places in public areas with leaking ceilings and buckets catching water outside the casino.  Our friends were moved to different deck/cabin and many of their neighbors due to issues.  My wife won't return to this ship.  But some folks have never known of any issues.....it's luck of the draw.

Don't gamble with your wife's health......cancel.

All stories of problems can happen to anyone......we sailed her last September and saw / experienced leaks, toilet problems in our cabin, had neighbors cabin leaking, our friends were moved to different floor....my wife is done with the Star.  Now others could have had a wonderful experience so one never knows.

When I last cruised on the Star in September last year they did indeed have lobster.  

We are avid Princess cruisers and are trying out HAL in April aboard the Koningsdam.  My experience with anytime we've had the beverage package through Princess has been great.  While we never ask/look for cans of soda at a bar,  we do get bottles of water there anytime we want and I've never had an issue getting doubles poured.  They just mark you down for two drinks......always get a double pour when I'm smoking my cigar.

Our first ever cruise sailed over Easter aboard the Diamond in around 2005.....our twins were 10 at the time and we took nanna she was in room with them.  The ship was decorated with Easter type stuff and they did have an Easter service in Explorers Lounge.   I remember how odd it felt to us that day as Easter never was that for our family.  It was nice they offered a service.

1 hour ago, martincath said:

Shazbat - I totally missed the opening sentences with a second ship involved. Shmoo's absolutely correct - instead of being screwed by incompetence when you first booked OP, you've actually had the opposite happen! Different ship = restart the clock, and that's absolutely definitive. The PVSA is a per vessel piece of legislation - not a per line one. It would be called the PLSA if it was concerned with multiple ships within the same line...

 

The only bits I actually got right were that the Victoria-Seattle change was irrelevant (first cruise is one-way ending outside the US, so no PVSA relevance regardless of route) and that you get better beer on the train.

 

I'd now be demanding getting put back on the one-nighter, a refund of your train fare, and at least a token OBC to cover HAL faffing you around.

No thanks.....we're done.....too much ambiguity on this subject.  We have our train tickets and we are done.  Others were in the same boat so to speak and also bailed on the second cruise.  

We were booked and paid for our Koningsdam cruise from San Diego to Vancouver coming up late April.  We also booked after much discussion on these boards an overnighter aboard the Oosterdam upon debarking the Koningsdam in order to get us back to Seattle.  Much talk on these boards as to whether the "Jones Act" is in violation by us getting off the one ship to board another to overnight to Seattle.  It was confirmed at that time that it was not in violation as the first cruise was porting in Victoria Canada prior to debarking in Vancouver the following cruise was OK.  Then HAL changed our port from Victoria to Seattle on the Koningsdam for a media event.  So apparently this is when we now are in violation of the Jones Act as now it looks at the two cruises as a round trip Seattle......and we don't know this until yesterday when someone on our roll call thread again speaks a warning to us.  At first I was annoyed by this but it did spur us into another call to HAL.  Needed to elevate it to a supervisor in order to get an answer but it was confirmed.  At this point we needed to duke it out with the travel agency for a refund who usually charges a $100 dollar fee for such things.  An hour on hold with them calling HAL we did get our refund with no penalties and were told that they learned something today.  Had we turned up to board the Oosterdam we're told we would be subject to arrest or fine as it breaks the law,  even if we had no idea.  If not for CC and the knowledge it provides people like us would have real issues.  Thanks to all for your help and this is why we are here.  I do think HAL has responsability here as they should have allerted us as to this potential problem.  We are now taking the train into Washington that evening.

42 minutes ago, towhee said:

Apparently it is too early to get a definite answer to your question.  The Port of Seattle does not have the Koningsdam on its preliminary schedule.  Another schedule should be out around the end of the month.

However Celebrity Eclipse is scheduled to be at Pier 66 on May 1, so Koningsdam will probably be at Pier 91.

Well at least you found something on the port schedule.....I think we'll have to assume pier 91 and hope HAL has free shuttles for us.  Thank you for the assistance.

We are taking the Koningsdam repositioning in April from San Diego to Vancouver and our original port stop was to be Victoria,  now changed to Seattle for PR purposes I'm hearing.  While we were sad to loose Victoria as our friends have never been and we all know Seattle well.....I'm not sure where the ship will dock.  I've only known the terminal way out of town where ships embark and debark from trips,  but I also know of the one at the marina behind Pikes and the ferris wheel but have only seen Norwegian ships there.  Is that dock for "day porting" in Seattle or is it contracted with Norwegian only....?   We're just trying to plan our getting off the ship and walking around that area on that day and not sure how the cruise line would handle moving guests from that far away terminal into town and back.  Do they charge for a bus/shuttle or would we need to get an uber for ourselves.....?   Thanks in advance for any information you'd have for us......Qcruisers