yerdua

Congrats! Isn't it a relief to not have to think about it anymore?!?!

Just checked my cc. Deposit has been refunded 78 days after I cancelled our July Baltic cruise. It was before final payment and before HAL cancelled it. Cancelled Apr 01, refund received Jun 18. No additional fcc involved just a straight up no penalty deposit refund. Crossing my fingers here that the rebooked cruise for Aug 2021 will be a go. 

I cancelled a Baltic cruise sailing this July on 4/1 before final payment .and before HAL closed down European itineraries. Just had a deposit on it so it's not like it's a ton of money hanging out there, and there were no prepaid add ons. Simple, right? No FCCs or extra money involved. No big calculations. I don't want anything other than my deposit back. So why is this taking so long? I love HAL as a product, but this is frustrating.

I suspect the cruise lines will be heavily promoting their Cancel For Any Reason policies once cruising resumes. Especially their "premium" policies. And at a much higher price to us cruisers.

Come to think of it, I wonder if they will be re writing the terms of these policies once cruising resumes. 

I just watched the webinar. Really just a sales pitch to TA's. Protecting their commissions, both on fully paid but cancelled 2020 cruises and on the FCC issued for future cruises. Spelling out of FCC and refund amounts and how they differed from pre May 6 cruise cancellations and post May 6 cancellations. Pep talk. Promotional support to TA's for selling HAL cruises. Continuing education classes. Absolutely NO questions answered. All were going to be directed to TA's Business Development Managers to be answered. Zero time addressing timing of refunds. A waste of time for me. I also question the value to TA's with the exception of getting screen shots of the FCC and refund terms for all the cancelled cruises. If I can find them on my computer I will post them.

11 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

I also find it interesting that the announcement of Ashford's departure was announced on the same date that HAL is conducting a trade webinar led by their Director of Field Sales called "Holland America Line: To the Voyage Ahead".  This is the first such webinar they have had since the crisis started and cannot be a mere coincidence.

I just watched the webinar. Really just a sales pitch to TA's. Protecting their commissions, both on fully paid but cancelled 2020 cruises and on the FCC issued for future cruises. Spelling out of FCC and refund amounts and how they differed from pre May 6 cruise cancellations and post May 6 cancellations. Pep talk. Promotional support to TA's for selling HAL cruises. Continuing education classes. Absolutely NO questions answered. All were going to be directed to TA's Business Development Manager to be answered. A waste of time for me. 

Could have rebooked our cancelled July 2020 Baltic cruise for either June, July or late August 2021. Chose late August in hopes of being able to have a vaccine available by then. Even so, keeping my fingers crossed. There's no fun in planning a cruise that has a good probability of being cancelled.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/carnival-ceo-we-have-been-fighting-for-the-survival-of-the-company-145918763.html

We were on the Sky for its TA this past fall and were celebrating both our anniversary and DH's b'day. Princess gave us a $50 certificate for the spa. I used it toward an acupuncture treatment to try to alleviate the knee pain from an injury I sustained on the way over to Spain. Didn't help.

59 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

I cancelled our Aug trip to the Baltic due to concern of ports being closed.  I am not going to spend that kind of money and time and then not be able to see what I came for.

 

We cancelled our July Baltic cruise prior to final payment for all the same reasons. Plus possible issues getting home, plus etc etc etc. We 're booked the same literary for late August 2021. I'm even crossing my fingers for that one. 

I didn't read anything that treats American cruisers vs non American cruisers. The only difference I can imagine  may be the different rules on cancellations that apply in different countries, which is out of HALs  control.

I cancelled our July 2020 Baltic cruise (before final payment) and re booked it for late August 2021. I'm crossing my fingers that there will be a vaccine by that time.  Meanwhile if things progress more quickly we might pick up a North American cruise on a last minute basis. Hopefully there will be a cruise industry remaining.

9 minutes ago, shipfriend_max said:

We will not cancel at all, our cruise is due to start the 23rd of August, and until that time, the normal routine should be there.

Further there's experts and doctors byond the mass media who state with trustful results the panic is far exaggerated, and f you wouldn't test, you wouldn't recognize any disease.

Further most victims don't die DUE TO Corona, but with Corona, combined with other illnesses, which were already there before, often those ones caused the death.

However I am really sorry for the died victims... 

For me, the question was not only will the cruise be on or off, but what will we find when we get to the ports. Will major areas be open or closed? Will st. Petersburg 's sites be open to visitors?  Will foreign country tries even let us dock?? How does one plan around all these unknowns. I have no desire to spend $$$$$ on a cruise and transatlantic business class air fare (the only way I can get dh to agree to a European cruise) and be disappointed. I'd rather cancel now, before final payment, and reschedule the trip.

Cancelled our Baltic cruise for this July prior to.final payment. Rebooked the same itinerary for late August 2021 during the same phone call. But... I am using a FCD i had on the books for that deposit. I want the cash deposit for the cancelled cruise back in my coffers. Not a ton of money but who knows if there will be a HAL in 18 months. Have already lost $$$$ on the stock, don't really want to add to the loss. Hopefully there will be a vaccine by then. I really want to see St. Petersburg.

I cancelled a cruise yesterday prior to final payment. Was told expect to wait 60 days.

3 hours ago, Baileybasset said:

Thank you dag144.  I'm close by in PD.  Our deposit is refundable  Our confusion is about the 10% loss with the insurance.  If we cancel prior to our July 19 final payment date, do we only lose the Platinum insurance or also the 10% on top of it.?  Or is the 10% loss only added in if we cancel after July 19? 

If you cancel prior to final payment, and you booked with a refundable deposit,100% of your cruise fare and port charges are refunded. I'm pretty sure your airfare would be fully refunded also as long as you booked a flexible fare and did not prepay it in order to choose seats. The only thing you would forfeit is the cost of the insurance itself. I never buy the insurance until just before final payment when I'm confident I will be going (barring unforseen future events), unless I'm booking under a non refundable deposit (the only time I pay for cancellation insurance prior to final payment). 

Good to hear. We're sailing on her this summer. Can't wait!

7 minutes ago, CruisingAndDiving said:

Alrighty, so finally was able to get some time to phone general reservations, and got connected with a very helpful agent by the name of Moirana.

 

Long and short of it....I got my booking done with all the appropriate OBC in place for our 10 day cruise on the Eurodam in December.

 

She did say that PCC is undergoing some sort of reorganization which has apparently impacted their calling people back.  Not sure exactly what as she didn't elaborate.  But at this point I've still not received a call from a PCC 

I wonder if the changes to the reservation transferring protocol (60 days from booking) is having an impact on the PCCs.

Won't work for my summer 2020 BALTIC cruise. Fares have increased $300pp over the last week. An extra $150 pp OBC won't cut it.  Also shows a disclaimer of new bookings only. 

I don't know if the same situation would apply with HALs  air credits, but I have a cautionary tale from a  princess booking which I believe uses the same air consolidater as HAL. I had a $200 pp air credit as part of a promotion. Booked air as soon  as it was available (got a great deal) and continued to monitor the cruise fare and air fare. Well air almost doubled within weeks. When the cruise fare went down I went to re fare the cruise I was told by 2 separate princess reps that if I did re fare the cruise not only would I lose the $200 air credit (which was expected since that promotion had ended) but I would lose my entire air booking and would have to re reserve air at the current price. These were international business flights so we're talking an additional $1500pp! Needless to say I did not refare the cruise. Sometimes it pays to book a bare bones fare for the flexibility.

Keep in mind that if HAL has gifted you the beverage card (vs you purchasing it) there is no refund of balances remaining at the end of the cruise. Only cards that have been purchased refund the balance to the cruiser. 

If you plan on traveling more often you may want to look into an annual medical/evacuation policy. It's extremely affordable and the one we have serves as the primary insurer. it also has coverage at much higher levels than the cruise lines. Does not cover cancellations but your credit card may, or take out the bare bones  policy from the cruise line.

Great pics and review. Thanks so much for sharing. We will be on Zuiderdam this summer for their Baltic cruise and I have a question. I noticed that the MDR dinner menus you posted include a number of selection s that would normally be considered lunch items (reuben, burger). I've never seen that on HAL for dinner  before. Is this something that is more common on the Caribbean cruises or is this something new fleet wide?

On 12/22/2019 at 12:15 PM, Tom O. said:

We are booked for our first Baltic Cruise on Holland America Zuiderdam next summer.

Our first port is Tallinn, and we just wanted to go to the old town, walk around and shop, and maybe have lunch.

I have already booked a ship's excursion called Walk & Shop in Tallinn's Old Town.

But I am thinking of canceling it, because we don't really need a guided tour. Also, the excursion is only 3 1/2 hours, and of that time, we only get about one hour on our own. The rest of the time we are walking with a guide.

Is it easy to get from our ship to Old Town on our own? We have some minor walking issues, and would prefer to not to take a long strenuous walk.

Recommendations?

Hi tom. Dh and I will be on this cruise 7/16. There is a short roll call started if you would like to join it. I think it will get more active after the holidays. Good question re tallinn. I'm just starting to plan shore activities for us. Audrey