CafeBruno

Ouch!! Just to clarify, since the cruise is less than a month out, I paid in full, non refundable. So after our 5 minute phone call, she really is finished and won't have to wait long to get paid. Secondly, I'm on my 2nd agent in the last 12 cruises, not sure where you got the idea that I'm cycling through a bunch of them. Really, is it too much to ask to have an agent send me a booking confirmation faster than 10 days after I paid for it?

Thanks, yeah, I did that once. But when I did that, the TA couldn't lower the price I booked it with HAL, she could only give me more OBC than HAL. To me, I would much rather have the discount up front, as a fare reduction, rather than as OBC. We usually get the Have It All, so for us, we don't have much need for OBC. Plus, I get the Carnival Corp shareholder's OBC as well. So I've actually had a couple of cruises where we had non refundable OBC at the end of the cruise, which my wife happily used up at the Effy jewelry shop. But I'd rather have had that extra $$ taken off my cruise fare rather than having more jewelry (although it looks lovely on my wife, of course). If anyone has a different experience, and figured out how to transfer a booking from HAL to a TA, and then having the TA reduce the fare somehow, instead of just giving extra OBC, I'd love to hear how that works.

Certainly a fair point. For me, this booking was around $2520. And I double checked the discount I received; it was actually only around 6% of HAL's website price, not 10% like I said earlier. But I should point out that I also have 2 longer cruises booked with that TA, each costing between $15,000 - $20,000, and the confirmation was also slow in coming on those cruises...

The thing is, I don't want or need full service. I just want an order-taker. Someone who can spend 5-10 minutes on the phone with me to book the cruise and cabin I want at a better price than I can get myself. I only call when I have determined exactly what I want - I don't need advice from her. On my most recent booking, she did the booking with HAL while I was on the phone with her; I told her the date, ship and cabin number I wanted (which I had already determined from HAL's website). She already had my Mariner number, credit card number, etc. Literally took 5 minutes, and then she's done and collects her commission.

I haven't gone in New England, but I've been whale watching many times in Southern California, Seattle, Cabo San Lucas, Hawaii, and Dominica, as well as in Juneau (twice plus a third one booked for next month). Of those, Cabo has been the most spectacular, with lots of breaching, tail and fin slapping, due to the fact that the males are apparently trying to impress the females at that time of year (winter months). But Juneau was also excellent, as we've always seen multiple humpbacks and orcas. My guess is that Juneau will be better than New England, as the Juneau and Alaska area is much less populated than Boston/New England. Plus, you have a good chance of seeing orcas in Juneau. If you don't regularly see those in New England, that alone might be enough reason to go in Juneau.

I’ve had difficulty in finding a good travel agent. I’ve been looking for someone who is responsive (return calls or emails within 24 hours), and with good pricing (approx.. 10% less than booking direct with HAL). I really don’t need someone who is super knowledgeable, since do all the research, like figuring out what cruise and cabin I want before calling them; I just ask the TA to book it for me quickly, so I can get the deal/cabin I want, at a lower price than with HAL directly, and to get back to me promptly. I used a TA for a while who met that criteria, but later she became much less responsive – her auto email reply now says that she will respond in 48-72 hours, which I think is too long, and may cause me to miss sales or specific cabins I want. So she’s no longer my first choice. Recently, I found another TA who is giving me the good pricing, and she’s pretty quick to return emails/calls, except that after I book with her, I don’t get the booking confirmation from her for 1-2 weeks. Today it’s been 7 business days since I booked a cruise with her (which departs May 19), and still no confirmation. I do see the booking on HAL’s website, but I really like to see the confirmation to make sure the perks and OBC are correct. The cruise is still almost 4 weeks off I know, but I get antsy. Am I asking too much? Should I just be happy with the discounts, and accept the fact that my new agent takes longer than I’d like to provide the confirmation? One other side note is that she is not very knowledgeable about HAL – but that is not really important for me, since I do all the research and don’t expect that from her. In my working career as a CPA, I heard it said that clients want their audit or tax work done (1) fast, (2) correctly, and (3) cheap, but one of my partners always said that clients can pick any 2, but not all 3. You can have it done fast and correctly, but it won’t be cheap. Or, you can have it fast and cheap, but it won’t be correct. Or, cheap and correct, but it won’t be fast. I wonder if it’s the same for TA’s?

We were on the N. Statendam from Feb. 11-25, 2 7 day back to back Carib. cruises. If there were any kids on board, (unruly or otherwise) we never noticed them. We certainly did notice rude adults though - in the Lido, I was behind a young Millennial age man who reached into the lettuce bowl with his hands, to add lettuce to his taco. I also saw more than 1 couple having loud Facetime conversations on speaker, in the main dining room. As did my next door neighbor on his balcony. As others have said, any 7 day cruise during Spring Break, holidays, or probably even in the summer months is going to have kids, so the solution is not to avoid all 7 day cruises, just to maybe reconsider those when kids are off from school. I wish I had an easy solution for the rude adults, though.

Oh and also, if a top secret loyalty tier exists for pax with high profitability scores, I would assume it also includes spending in the jewelry shops - there is a small group of core HAL guests who routinely spend thousands of $$ on jewelry on every cruise. This I know firsthand, unfortunately

I upgraded from the basic HIA internet plan to the middle (Premium) plan on our 21 day January Eurodam cruise and our 14 day February N. Statendam cruise, in order to be assured I could do Zoom and Teams calls, as I had to work some on both cruises. The prices in the chart you attached were what I paid - $80 for 17 days on my 21 day cruise, and $50 for the 14 day cruise. And the call/video quality was perfect, no difference from my high speed connection at home. I'm really glad HAL upgraded the internet to support Zoom/Teams.

Yes, we stopped at Fanning this spring on the Koningsdam and the ship was not involved in handling the donations. On the island, just past the pier, the islanders had a table set up to receive school donations, and there were a lot of people that dropped stuff off there. So just bring your donations when you go ashore. There was no customs presence, no forms to fill out, no problem in dropping off your donations.

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I still find it hard to believe CO is really all sold out so far in advance - I'd like to believe they are holding spots back. I am pretty sure I'm going to put a deposit down and then check back maybe once a month so see if any spots have opened up. And then as we get closer to the final payment date, I will check more frequently, like weekly or even daily in the final days. But as was mentioned earlier, Lido breakfast and MDR dinner on the Pinnacle class ships are just too hectic and loud for me, even on fixed dinner, so I don't think I will keep the reservation unless I can get Club Orange dining.

Hi, would appreciate your thoughts on this….I’m interested in a 35 day sailing on the Koningsdam in February and March 2025, but really only if I can get Club Orange, since my wife and I really don’t care for breakfasts in the Lido or dinners in the MDR, especially on Pinnacle class ships. I got a very good quote from my very solid and reputable travel agent, and told her to book it, but only for the cheapest balcony cabin, and then at the same time buy Club Orange and upgrade to a better balcony cabin. She’s done this for me several times before, no problem. But this time, she called me back 15 minutes later and told me that HAL told her that CO was sold out for this sailing. This can’t be right, 18 months before sailing, can it? I’ve bought CO at least 6 times in the past, usually 3-6 months before sailing, no problems. How can this sailing suddenly be sold out 18 months in advance? I am wondering if HAL is holding back some CO capacity, and only releasing a few spots at a time, to spread out the capacity and therefore ensure spots are available for those booking later? It seems possible, but it wouldn’t seem smart, since I would think HAL would be more motivated to sell all the CO spots as early as possible, since CO is paid at the time of booking, which of course speeds up HAL’s cash flow. Has anyone run across this situation before, where CO is sold out so far in advance? So I am trying to decide what to do. Since I am getting great pricing now, I could just go ahead and book the cheapest balcony now, and then call HAL every month, to see if any more CO spots open up, and buy it then. And then if it remains “sold out” I guess I can just cancel the cruise, since I really do not want the cheapest Obstructed View balcony. But I hate to tie up a deposit for potentially a long period of time and then cancel if 14 months from now if CO is still sold out. Or, I could just not book the cruise now, and call HAL every month to see if any CO spots have opened up, and then book the cruise with CO then. But who knows if I would still get the great pricing and Early Booking Bonus Have It All perks they are offering now - I doubt it. Anyway I’d appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks

Not trying to minimize the OP's experience, but we were on the Eurodam last month on the same 7 day Alaska cruise from Seattle, with likely mostly the same staff, and did not at all experience the service issues the OP described. I did not notice any cleanliness issues. In fact we had a GREAT cruise and found the food, beverages and service fabulous and up to the HAL standards we enjoy. On our cruise the Lincoln Center stage area was in use every day, including Trivia, coffee with the Cruise & Travel Director presentations, Art history & auctions, the port talks, and spa promotional talks. Yes, the food portions in the MDR have decreased on every HAL ship, compared to pre-Covid, so that's nothing new. On our cruise, our portions sizes were not "insulting" at all, we thought they were fine. And you can still get additional entrees for free in the MDR, no problem. I'm sorry you had so many bad experiences on your cruise. For others with future cruises scheduled on the Eurodam, you may not have the same issues, as our experience was very different and completely positive, just a month earlier than the OP. In fact we have 21 days on her scheduled for January and we are looking forward to it very much. For context, we are also experienced cruisers and close to 5 star on HAL.

I'm currently booked on the Eurodam for 21 days in January in a VB balcony, with the Have It All package. Just for fun, I looked up what 21 days on a Seabourn ship with a similar itinerary would cost, using a popular discount To Go booking site. After factoring in the extras and OBC included in the HIA package compared to the internet and drinks included in the Seaborne fare, it turned out the Seaborne fare was double the HAL fare. I know it's not an apples to apples comparison, but for us and maybe others like us who typically stay in one of the more expensive balconies, (VB in this case), I can't justify paying double for a Seabourn suite. But for those who only book Neptune suites, then yes, do your own comparison before you book HAL.

This was the school supply donation table from our March trip on the Koningsdam to Kiritimati

We stopped there for a day this past March on the Koningsdam. There won't be any excursions offered at all. But I found the island very interesting and urge you to get off the ship and walk around. I and many others just walked around and felt very safe; people were super friendly. Since ships stop there so infrequently, its a very big deal to the locals when a ship does stop, and many of the locals come out for visitors. When we were there, there were 10-15 locals selling craft items, the school kids sang some songs, one of the church groups did songs and music, and very friendly local people will come out to visit. Many people on our sailing donated backpacks full of school supplies; there was a special area set up by the pier to receive those donations. So, do get off the ship and leave some cash on the island to help out the locals. But yeah, definitely don't swim in the water, as the sewage system is basically a big pond that empties this gross brown water directly into the ocean.

If the upgrade cost is 600AUD in total, then I believe its a very good deal. If that's the upgrade price per person, it probably wouldn't be worth it for me. The Vista will be noticeably larger, but the best feature is that you will have a great view of the scenery from your room and from your balcony, as the Vista's are all in great locations and completely unobstructed views. With the obstructed view balcony, its unlikely you will be able to see much of anything from your balcony except the lifeboat that's blocking your view of the scenery, which is a big , big drawback in Alaska in my opinion. Another feature of the Vistas is that you get double Mariner points, which HAL calls their "suite bonus". Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

On a HAL sailing in March, I got Covid, and I was told to isolate in my cabin for the day I tested positive, plus 5 more days. Then they came and tested me, I was negative and was released, and the next day they put a letter in my mailbox stating that I would be given a FCC for my days in isolation. About a month later I checked my Mariner account on HAL's website and I saw that the FCC had been added to my account. I find it amazing that they never tested you at all during your wife's isolation. When I was isolated, they required my wife to come down to the medical center and be tested every other day (she tested negative every time). Anyway, I believe the FCC policy is still in effect. If you are still on the ship, you should make sure you have something in writing from HAL to prove your wife had to be isolated, and ideally confirming that a FCC will be provided to her. Then when you get home, check your Mariner account every week or so to see when/if the FCC gets added to your wife's Mariner account. Good luck

We went in February this year on a HAL ship excursion. HAL has 2 levels for this excursion, a basic level with seating further away from the stage, and a VIP level with seating close to the stage, extra drink tickets, priority access to the buffet and the bar, to avoid the long lines, and a couple other perks. We got the VIP as we looked at this as a once in a lifetime thing. We thought the food was good and plentiful, the drinks were small and just ok. We enjoyed the show, especially since we were seated in the closest table to the stage, front and center, thanks to the VIP package. Both the basic level and the VIP were really expensive, I think we paid $295 per person for the VIP and I think the basic level was around $40 cheaper. Was it "worth it"? For us it was, just to experience it once. Would we do it again? No, I don't think so, once was enough for the cost. If you are comfortable with the cost, I do recommend it as something to experience at least once.

Yeah, @eggemon, in some cases it takes HAL forever to issue the credits. When my wife and I got Covid on the land portion of our Alaska land & sea cruisetour in summer of 2022, it took several months to receive the FCC's, and 9 months to receive our cash reimbursement for our hotel, air, and other out of pocket cash costs. But when I got Covid in March 2023 on the ship, it took 3 weeks to get the FCC's. I am guessing it was so much faster now because I got sick on the ship and had no cash out of pocket expenses like I did in 2022. Much less complicated.

In our case, I tested positive, but my wife never did, so only I got the credits. They were posted to my account, not hers.

I got Covid on our last HAL cruise, which ended March 25. I noticed the FCC's in my account approximately 3 weeks later. They could have been there sooner, because I only checked our account around once a week. HAL did not email me or otherwise notify me. So it should be pretty soon for you, in another week or 2.

Thanks for your review. But one clarification - you said in the review that bottled waters are not included in the beverage package. Actually 12 ounce cans of water are included in the beverage package, but neither 16 ounce aluminum cans of water of 1 liter glass bottles of water like those shown in your video are included. HAL does not have plastic bottles of water. I would love to see pictures of the Club Orange dining room after the drydock, as I am wondering if they moved the door to the center of the room like on the Rotterdam, or if any other changes were made since we last sailed on the K in February-March. Would you mind posting any pictures of that room, if you have any? Thanks!

Don't give up hope, I believe you will eventually get your reimbursement. My wife and I caught Covid on a HAL Alaska Land & Sea trip, and I submitted my reimbursement form to HAL on June 26, 2022. HAL emailed me in September 2022 stating my claim had been approved and a reimbursement check would follow soon. I didn't receive the check until March 20, 2023 - that's just shy of 9 months from the day I submitted the forms to HAL. Before finally receiving the check, I contacted HAL numerous times, including with the Office of the President, and like you were only given vague assurance that it would be paid but they couldn't tell me when. It's incredibly frustrating, especially hearing that some people received their reimbursements in "only" 3-4 months, while others like you and I have to wait 9 months or more. Anyway I don't know if it will help speed things up, but I do recommend you start emailing the Office of the President if you haven't done so already. No idea if that helped me or not but I don't think it can hurt. Best of luck to you. officeofthepresident@hollandamerica.com

@rajkr74 I hope you get your reimbursement soon, but don't count on it. I submitted my Covid expenses last June. In September they told me that my claim was approved for payment and to expect a check in 8 to 12 weeks. At 12 weeks I called again and was told it was in the que to be paid but they could not tell me when it would be paid. At 16 weeks (3 weeks ago) I emailed Gus Antorcha's office (HAL President) and after 2 weeks I got this wholly unsatisfying response: Thank you for contacting Mr. Gus Antorcha regarding your ms Nieuw Amsterdam sailing. Mr. Antorcha has reviewed your concerns and asked me to express his regret for the disappointment you encountered. While we are extremely sorry for the wait times when contacting Guest Relations, we, like most companies, are experiencing staffing shortages due to Covid which causes wait times to be longer than normal. We are doing our best to keep up with the requests of our guests. We know you’re waiting for your refund ($1993.23) and may be frustrated by how long it’s taking. We hear you and are doing everything in our power to get it to you as soon as possible. Rest assured we’ve received your request, and it’s in our queue and the process has started. Because we are not able to use our usual automated process, our team is manually handling a large volume of requests while working from home. We want to try to make sure each and every guest’s booking is handled accurately. Please know we have asked that our Refunds Department finalize your refund and get it expedited. As a reminder, your check will not come from Holland America, rather from Paymode-X. As always, we thank you for your understanding and hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy and safe during this difficult time. Sincerely, Christine Ferris Special Advisor Office of the President No promises, except that "the process has started" - I would hope so, 7 months after I submitted my documents for the reimbursement. Again I hope you get your $$ quickly but be prepared for a wait.