Mary229

1 minute ago, Iamthesea said:

 

Can complaints be made on the app from home before taking a cruise?

No nor after, only while on voyage.  You can also give commendations and kudos.  Currently the crew is eager to receive a special mention through the app 

2 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

Lastly, we were loyal to La Quinta for about a decade, starting around 2010, before the Wyndham acquisition

I so agree.  Being in the southwest we used them often buy

tWyndham let them run down to the point where they are a hard pass for us.  

1 minute ago, SeaMatesNYC said:

No, they’ve wanted it, but sometimes credits have dropped off.  Not sure why and they have to call to get things reapplied that “fell off”. Additional bonus type things beyond the onboard booking bonus that were tied to Mariner number. Should go seamlessly, but I’ve found sometimes don’t, perhaps due to input error onboard?

My last onboard booking had to be redone but I caught the errors while still on ship and was able to make the corrections.  I agree keep a careful eye on things especially when an error can lose a significant OBC

1 minute ago, SeaMatesNYC said:

And find someone who can cope with taking in an onboard booking and ensure everything’s transferred correctly. And still gives you a discount (especially then since you and the Future Cruise Consultant did the heavy lifting!).

There should be an automatic transfer unless you the customer spectates you don’t want it transferred.  Have you had an agent not want the onboard booking.?

Did you ever talk to La Quinta?  You do get a second bite at the apple, so if you can work it out with them you still have a chance to overturn the charge. 
 

If Barclays treated you badly stay away from all of their credit cards.  HAL doesn’t administer the card ,the bank does.

I had a similar problem with another bank, I closed the account once it was straightened out and never used that bank again. 

As to discounts there truly are no discounts.  Learning a cruise lines in and outs is the best way to get a good deal.  Know your Mariner benefits.  Be keen to snap up an early booking bonus, many only agencies snap those up and offer them later to clients giving the appearance that they are giving you a big OBC. You could have had that same OBC if you had booked early.  Always get a refundable deposit so you can refare if prices drop.  Your agent should have access to software that tracks changes and that software is more robust than what consumers have available.

so my advice is find someone who is attentive and you like and who likes you and let the prices fall in place.  Make sure that person has good cruise experience and that they regularly keep up their training.  Don’t focus on price 

44 minutes ago, TRLD said:

So where have I defended Park West?

I will let you reread your own responses as I just did. 

14 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Too funny

 

Please quote anything I said in defense of Park West and that indicates that they are a good bisiness. What I said was 

1. That they do these special cruises

2. What is happening on HAL happens on their competition

3.Same thing happens with other groups holding special events in various venues.

 

If you actually ready posts I have been quite critical of Park West and there pretty bogus product.

 

What I have been presenting is what is going on is not unusual. In this case it is a special cruise where they have negotiated space for private events. The same as other groups have.

 

 

 

I have sailed HaL for years and I have never seen any special group use the crow’s nest for more than 2 hours - ONCE, or twice during a very long sailing.  It is not a daily occurrence.  The Crow’s Nest has gone to any iterations but it has always been probably the most popular venue on HAL.  The original post has been called into question as to the complete facts, that I accept is a greater possibility than HAL using the Crow’s Nest as a reserved venue for special groups.    
 

1 minute ago, Essiesmom said:

It is interesting that MSC does not have art auctions.  Could it be because their mostly European clientele are too art savvy to fall for such drivel?  I wonder if Costa, Mein Schiff, AIDA, Marella, Fred Olsen have Park West or similar?  
   If you want real art from the artist, visit an arts festival…many are held around the country during spring and summer.  EM

HAL went quite a few years without auctions, it is disheartening to see their reappearance.  They had instead an untyped art gallery. 
 

you make a good point however one could get quite an art education on the ship just by downloading their art guide and walking around the ship and see the many incredible works of art which adorn the walls of the ship

5 hours ago, Archipelago said:

A question for Mary ...when you mentioned that the Santiago hotel served breakfast and had the room ready the day of arrival was that a HAL hotel or any hotel in Santiago ? It's a long way away so not sure if I will book HAL hotel or my own ...have been doing my own on my latest travels. Thank You 

Yes, that is right.  I have stayed with HaL a number of times in various locations.  A little known part of booking with them is early checkin even extremely early plus breakfast and transfers are included. Transfers are from airport and to cruise ship.  If you arrive early enough for breakfast on the first day that is included too.  If the hotel has quit serving breakfast then of course there would not be breakfast. 

7 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Rather amazing how some here on cruise critic rather then talking about facts or the details of situations start throwing out labels or names when people post things counter to their view.

Well truth be told I have never met anyone on Cruise Critic defend Park West so fervently.   You do them a great service. Now back to why you think it is ok for a contractor to commandeer a popular space for the entire length of a cruise.  I don’t think anyone would complain about a single evening but not for the entire cruise.  
 

PS 30+ day cruises are fairly normal for HAL

2 hours ago, TRLD said:

Where?

 

HAL ships do not have the best layout when it comes to multi use venues. Most are used for nightly entertainment and as such used after 4.

 

The Crows Nest is mostly used during the day for its ocean views with some activities.

On my35 day voyage they were set up on the first floor for several events, their studio was next to photography on the 3 and one special event for one evening in the Rock room

6 hours ago, Nebr.cruiser said:

I often research cruises online and get emails about sakes from several.  I've noticed lately that the pricing, format, etc. are exactly the same for several of these sites.  I mean, word for word, graphics, anything.  So I think you are right.  It's not that easy to find a really good TA who isn't bound to some big travel agency.  

 

I will say that I have mostly had very good service from the agents I do use--I have a couple of favorites, and they do work for big agencies.

All of the cruise lines ALL, regardless how big or small provide any agency with marketing materials. This includes mailings, website “brochures” , etc…. Each agency then decides who they want to work with and that will be based more on who their customer base is than on other variables 

33 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

It is not clear to me exactly what the problems might be.  What change would you demand specifically? 

 

I occasionally run into slow speeds/page loading issues, but can't say it happens more with cruise line sites than it does across the board.  

For example on Holland’s notoriously bad website all last week many people using different operating systems could not get past the first step of booking. One could not even get a price.  The website is cluttered with links that result in an error message dead end. 

2 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Yes, I am the big girl in the middle! The taller companion (camera left) is my mom, the other her sister, my aunt! Obviously we were having a great time!

Now I have a face to the name!  
 

also it should be mentioned geologically they are two different type of glaciers.  Actually more as in glacier bay there are at least two kinds😉

Here is the dry dock schedule. Usually ships are dry docked every 2 years but that doesn’t mean they will be completely refurbished.  HAL is pretty f

good about continuous maintenance 

16 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

@TorontoTL SeaMates is correct, Mary and I should have mentioned that you will essentially be re-booking (without risk of losing your cabin), and any original promo will be replaced by the current one if any. Always do the math! 

All fares are a total of perks and base rates plus taxes and fees.  If you change a good agent will give a bullet point chart of what you gain and what you lose. 

6 minutes ago, TRLD said:

That is too funny. Technically they could sell you a cruise go out and sail in a circle, touch one foreign port if out of the US, not let anyone off ship, and feed you a steady diet of pork and beans according to the cruise contract. Surprised someone doesn't raise that concern.

 

They could and have always done some room changes  with sufficient reason. Sometimes as an unasked for upgrade, sometimes for the rather ambiguous operational reasons.

 

In this they are making a pretty well defined policy change concerning high capacity rooms. Pretty clear in what they are saying if you are a party of 2 and book a 3/4 room you have some potential risk of getting bumped to an equivalent or better 2 person room based upon their room grading system.

That is a well known clause and the only thing that keeps them in check is the power of the purse.  For a most recent example go to the Oceania boards when they tried just such a cruise when the Middle East conflict began.  There are many examples. For the people on the initial cruise it is a terrible event but going forward the line starts losing business as people do become very vocal. I just warned someone away from NCL because of news articles published about this same topic.  Turns out publicly shaming does work 

I simply hit cancel and voila turns out I am still logged in. I am on Apple 

Make sure you select the refundable deposit.  There are two published fares, the base rate and the with Have It all.  Most often HIA comes with refundable deposits.  There is a third non published fare call Advantage fare.  It is slightly higher than the base fare but it is refundable.  One gotcha that occurs sometimes.  If you pay for the cruise in full that could be considered final payment and penalties begin even if it is before the overall cruise final payment date.

if your TA is familiar with Princess they probably know Holland very well too

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

The AARP example was CC.  But yes and I advocate all forms of communication when you complain.  My response was to someone who was being dismissive of complaining here 

Actually this is not even a situation about complaining, it is commentary on how to properly execute a change of policy especially when it is a very longstanding policy 

6 minutes ago, TRLD said:

I expect it is more a matter of feedback they receive from a number of sources which probably include some of the same things as discussed here, more than they are reacting to CC posts.

The AARP example was CC.  But yes and I advocate all forms of communication when you complain.  My response was to someone who was being dismissive of complaining here 

1 minute ago, Wehwalt said:

"or in the judgment of the Captain is advisable for any reason." It covers them. I suspect they wanted to make it more explicit, and whether or not this thread had anything to do with it is only speculation.

There have been examples of HAL responding quickly because of Cruise Critic threads.  The one that I recall most recently was the introduction of the AARP OBC.  The language changed two or three times in one day in response to comments on these boards 

1 minute ago, HappyInVan said:

 

+1

 

I'm astonished that some posters on this forum speak with such assurance for HAL. I have to wonder if they are with HAL???

 

Personally, I hope that HAL takes note of the criticism after each of their brilliant innovation. The customer comes first?

I think HAL does read this forum. I also think we need to speak up. Many businesses go happily along because no one speaks up. it is not because we work for HAL which saying so is just plain snarky.  It is because I meet so many people who have been manhandled by agencies, tour companies or cruise lines and sit quietly stewing.  If you speak up effectively you might be surprised.  Sitting back and saying nothing gets you absolutely nothing 

16 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Except if you read posts about other lines such as Princess, you have complaints there about people getting blocked from being able to select their favorite cabin locations because of exactly those same restrictions.

 

HAL is giving you the option, with warning, for you to book what you want. One might get bumped. Most likely a low probability event in most cases. They are just making it clear that the possibility exists and that if a 2 person cabin will do you should select that one first.

But that should be stated during booking process.  And it should be stated with a popup or other deterrent.