Hllb

After more than 50 minutes on the phone, they assure me there is NO WAY to apply this to an existing booking and those of you who were able to are either very confused or lying. I don't have anymore fight in me today....

3 minutes ago, campbean41 said:

My HAL personal cruise consultant said she couldn't help me so I engaged with the chat on the HAL website and they told me it had to be done through the reservations department, then gave me the number. I would try again and just be patient and persistent. 

They're currently talking to a supervisor so I'm on hold....

2 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Amazing that they are so unhelpful. But thanks for the info: I have time before using the cards on a cruise in May.

Honestly, it's ridiculous. Literally was told today "We've done our job. They'll contact you within 3 days". Their job is apparently passing the buck...

16 minutes ago, campbean41 said:

To have the OBC applied to an upcoming booking, call the Reservation Department at 877-724-5425. I did this today and although I was put on hold for about 10 minutes while the person called the Resolutions Department, I received via email an updated booking confirmation showing the additional OBC added for my November 2023 trip.

They're currently telling me it can't be done, but waiting to see if they can resolve it.

Talked to AARP today and they are incredibly unhelpful. Their policies are basically 'we will do nothing until x hrs have passed', then once those passed 'we'll put in a request but will do nothing for up to 3 business days and NO you cannot talk to the group that is supposed to fix this'. So, they've escalated it, but I cannot talk to that group and have to wait days for them to contact me. So there's a waste of $450...this is unlikely to get resolved in time for my cruise payment and they will not refund it either (even right now, before the card was issued). So, I'll likely be trying to do a chargeback on my CC if they don't fix it today. Which is also unlikely to work.

Warning to others: DO NOT DO THIS IF YOU DON'T HAVE WEEKS BEFORE FINAL PAYMENT

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I went through the verification process (that was fast) for the military rate. I just booked this sailing in the last week or so - can they apply the OBC after the fact (like the shareholder credit) or is it REALLY for new bookings only (as the fine print indicates)?

 

Tom

It can be applied to existing bookings, though you may have to call to get it applied. That's what chat told me the other day.

If you aren't getting to know your wait staff, I wouldn't feel the need to leave an extra tip unless they were exceptional one particular evening, and then I'd leave something at the time.

33 minutes ago, Primus said:

My husband and I were both approved for the educator discount.  It appears only one credit can be used per sailing.  His credit was automatically applied to our June 2023 sailing and my account now shows $100 onboard credit available to be used by a sail date of Dec 30, 2024.

How can you tell it was applied to a sailing? I see the credit on my husband's account with a to be used by date. Do I have to do something else to get it applied to our cruise?

My husband’s showed up today as well. It wasn’t there yesterday afternoon so took close to 48 hours to show

Still nothing today so I’ll call reach out at 10am.

They won't even talk to me until tomorrow - pretty rude about it too. If I can't get it tomorrow, I'm pretty much hosed on it as final payment is due 3/25. Glad I only bought one as a test. I could contest it with my credit card if they can't deliver in time.

4 minutes ago, richwmn said:

I have purchased a lot of gift cards from AARP. Generally the email comes within a few minutes. Check your spam folder.

Nothing so far - it's been maybe an hour.

Not sure on that, but I think I saw another post where a Canadian bought them. They couldn't apply them to payment online, but had to call instead.

I purchased one as a test. You are only allowed 5 per month. It takes up to 24 hours to get the email though, so I'm still waiting for it to arrive.

1 hour ago, vacation 2011 said:

NO explanation just has been changed, no offer of refund , had already paid in full. Seems they should change advisements to read 11 day cruise from Fort Lauderdale sometime in Spring to Montreal Canada with 4 to 6 ports. and possible Montreal or Old Quebec City departure. Then list ports that are possible then confirm ports and departure when they know, which should be scheduled at least  7-8 months prior to departure. Then only deal with changes last minute caused by last minute intrusions. Not a scheduled stop that just is dropped or changed within 30 days of voyage. They have clauses that cover them for everything so maybe if they are vague with their advertisements it would be easier to understand what control you don't have once you paid.

Is there really a clause that covers the cruise leaving on a drastically different date? Port changes, yes, they're covered. But people choose cruises frequently based on dates due to work schedules, kids' vacation periods, etc. I mean, this change was during spring break so a family that could go on the original date, is likely not able to go when the week changed. That's crazy to me that they wouldn't allow a refund in this instance.

25 minutes ago, morpheusofthesea said:

This is our view from the Retreat cabana of Amber Cove, DR. Complimentary liter bottle of water. Find there are still many questions on FB about complimentary water. Even with a beverage package of 15 drinks or cans of water, one will be charged for any use of the mini bar. One must collect (after 11 am) up to 15 cans/day at the Neptune Lounge or any bar on the ship. One will find on embarkation day one glass liter bottle of water complimentary from the Captain and one bottle of complimentary Champagne (suite cabin). Everything else is a charge and one must always submit ones key card (except in the Neptune Lounge where one is asked to fill out a form with what is taken). Find this process for suite guests a bit old fashion. MSC Yacht Club all drinks in the YC are complimentary up to a certain price point, and all the complimentary bottled water one can drink, no limit).

This is only for Neptune Suites and above, correct? No complimentary water for Signature Suites?

2 minutes ago, gregma60 said:

The only thing I can answer as to your questions, is that yes, you have to go through your TA to make payments, Holland America will not take any payments from any guess who have gone through a TA.  The rest I can't answer although a great idea I should have thought of!

 

-gregma

Thanks! I thought I would. It looks like you don't have to be an AARP member to purchase the discounted gift cards - just sign up for their rewards program.

14 minutes ago, vacation 2011 said:

The Portland Maine being switched for Bar Harbor isn't bad but the change in port time originally 7-4 now 7-1 would be nicer 7-4.  Rhode Island now a sea day. An just adding 2 hours to Boston now 8-7 instead of 10-7. Then the change in cruise start date originally booked as May 2-13 5pm departure then changed to 4/19-4/29 5 pm departure then departure time changed to 4pm. None which are last minute changes but changes in what was advertised and paid for. Just getting a little annoyed. Not happy with Holland America right now.

 

Wait, they changed departure by weeks? They had to offer a full refund at that point, right??

13 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

HAL needs to fully understand why passengers choose them. If I had to guess, a majority do not choose HAL because it is a "cruise line for old people" but rather because it is a "cruise line with some of the best itineraries at sea."  

 

If I could divorce the two characteristics, I would. I continue to sail on HAL because of the latter and despite the former. If HAL lost the latter I would not be back. If HAL changed the former, I would be overjoyed. 

 

cm42, now aged 60.

 

Today's "old" people, in their 60's or so, are vastly different than the ones 20 yrs ago. They are more active, younger at heart, and looking for more to do. Hopefully HAL sees that. 

We will be on HAL for the first time this summer as a family with middle-aged parents and 3 teens (two are technically adults). I do wish the ship had more activities, but the price was good (Celebrity was cheaper, and I initially booked there but changed my mind), and it had the ports I wanted. For me personally, a cruise ship is a means to a destination. Sure, I want to enjoy activities on the ship as well, but that is secondary for me. So I guess I took booked because of itinerary, and despite their reputation as a ship for old people. I'm sure we'll have a great time, but not sure we'll go back to HAL later - only time will tell. We aren't old enough to enjoy those long itineraries, as we both work full time.

I'm considering purchasing some gift cards to apply towards our final payment (to get the 10% discount from AARP). Is there anything I need to know about doing this? I have booked through a TA. Can I apply the gift cards on my online account, or do I have to go through the TA? If I pay down the balance due with gift cards on my account, will the TA then only charge the remaining balance at final payment (which is in a few days)? Is there a limit to the number I can use?

On 3/20/2023 at 7:44 PM, Suzanne123 said:

We’ve used this company a couple times.  Very nice.

https://kayakketchikan.com

This is what we booked too. It’s 3.5ish hrs with a maximum of 6 ppl

51 minutes ago, gregma60 said:

Mine showed up on the hollandamerica.com website, logged in, went to "My Account", went to "Future Cruise Credits".  At the very bottom was this:

 

Onboard Credits
Onboard credits are excluded from the total balance displayed at the top. These credits can be used to purchase services on the ship. Only onboard credit that is not tied to a promotion shows here. The amount displayed is the maximum available and based on trip length.
AVAILABLE
ID            AMOUNT BOOK BY SAIL BY            STATUS
12345     $100        N/A            Dec 30 2024     AVAILABLE 

 

This was my Military OBC.  It showed up automatically about 2 days after I "Qualified".

 

-gregma

Thank you! I found that spot and wondered if it would show up there

5 minutes ago, Coram said:

I actually do not know where to find it.  We signed up for the Teachers appreciation today.  So 48 hours won't be until Thursday.

Ah, sorry, I misunderstood. Hopefully we'll both see it in a couple of days!

8 hours ago, Coram said:

We completed the Teacher Appreciation forms and were approved (we are both teachers).  My husband called Holland America and was advised that the credits would be applied automatically within the next 48 hours to our currently booked cruise.

@Coram Do you remember where you could see the OBC was applied? I'm not sure where to watch for it.

8 minutes ago, IamHungry said:

How would you know if it's auto applied? 

That's a really good question. There is a section in your profile (website and app) that shows on board credit and future cruise credits. Maybe it shows up there? Our OBC from a promotion doesn't show, but there's a note that promotional OBC doesn't show there. So ultimately, I'm not sure!

11 minutes ago, IamHungry said:

I just got it verified. Hopefully it will apply to the booking that I have already booked. Or should I contact my TA? Also can this be combined with Stock holder OBC?

Someone above said it was automatically applied after 48 hours, after verification. Chat told me to call the reservation line to apply it now. I'll wait a few days and then call if it doesn't get auto applied.