gailellen12

26 minutes ago, jettaleea said:

Had you checked in on the airline site and received a seat assignment? Just trying to figure out how to minimize issues.

Yes. A seat assignment had been made  In fact after I purchased the ticket out of my pocket I ended up in the previously assigned seat for the flight 😜

On 6/6/2022 at 5:08 PM, Kamfish642 said:

July 10, 2022, 14-Day Best of Norway cruise on MS Rotterdam VII

 

In late April 2022, my Travel Agent contacted me after noticing that my flights reservations had unknowingly been cancelled.  She contacted the HAL Flight Bookings and had same flights rebooked, but HAL representative was not able to provide an explanation on how this occurred.

 

Jumping ahead to late May 2022, I was unable to select seats on the Lufthansa flights identified on the HAL website for my cruise.  I contacted a HAL Representative via telephone and was told that I would need to contact Lufthansa directly and likely pay a fee for advance seat selection.  I then called Lufthansa and was told that they could not assign or have my seats paid for since "Ticket has not been issued," even though electronic ticket numbers were listed on their website.  Lufthansa representative indicated that I would need to contact HAL to resolve.

 

After both my Travel Agent and I contacted HAL multiple times, we were either transferred to or instructed to call the HAL Flight Bookings.  On numerous times, we were both simply placed on hold and after 4 hours disconnected.  This is no way to run a cruise line or customer service in general, and as such, I have filed a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

 

In further discussions with my Travel Agent, she believed that the e-Ticket numbers listed on the Lufthansa website indicated that HAL purchased flights through Delta Airlines.  So as my last resort I contact Delta Airlines.  The Delta representative informed me that information available to her showed that flights had been refunded to HAL but it was unclear to her the reason why tickets were refunded.  However, she informed me that our only recourse was to contact HAL to resolve.  How can this be resolved when every time we call HAL Flight Bookings, we are placed on hold for 4 hours and disconnected!!!

 

Any advice on how to proceed would be greatly appreciated!

My issue was that Flight Ease failed to ticket my Philly to Barcelona flight and I am currently 2500.00 out of pocket since I needed to purchase my own ticket on the spot.  Interestingly they had ticketed my return journey just fine. Needless to say I am currently actively pursuing Holland via my travel agent  Booking and ticketing correctly seems like it should not be all that difficult🥴

7 hours ago, Unlvswezel said:

Would you mind expanding your return experience? We are on a sailing that ends in Tireste next month and am worried about getting off the ship and transferred in time for our 12:30 flight.

I was able to make my 12:15 flight with enough time to spare. Not sure that those I heard who had even much earlier flights would have been ok The security line took at least 50 minutes and the airport itself is a maze of different places where your passport is checked multiple times. Disembarkment from the ship was fine. With our flight at 12:15 we were in group yellow 2 and left Trieste sometime around 6:40 or so I think.Approx 2 hr 15 minutes to the airport. Yesterday is still rather vague to me due my current jet lag.🥴

On 6/4/2022 at 5:00 PM, Mary229 said:

@TiogaCruiser  I wonder what flight ease is doing.   They seem to be the greatest source of urgent issues 

Especially for me. They failed to ticket my Philadelphia to Barcelona flight and I am currently out of pocket over 2500.00. My travel agent and I will both be pursuing this vigorously as you might imagine. 

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We get off the Oosterdam on Sept 4th, however we are not returning to Trieste,  we come back to Maghera port in Venice, but we decided when we booked our air to fly home the day after on the 5th at 11:20am. We want to avoid the long cruise passengers lines.

Allow plenty of time for all the hassle at the Venice airport. The customs line for return flights to US took probably over an hour in itself. The airport was mobbed and it is only now the start of the vacation season

Thanks.  I will keep this in mind.  

Just now, Kobra_Kommandor said:

This sounds like such a nightmare!  Were the flights listed on your itinerary from HAL?

Yes Both flights had been  booked and interestingly the return flight yesterday from Venice to Philly was ticketed and fine from the get go.   They just never ticketed the outgoing Philly to Barcelona flight Even the ticket agent at American Airlines when I was trying to leave June 1 just shook his head in disbelief and said "they owe you big time" Suffering from jet lag which is why I am posting late Monday night.  It obviously has left a very sour taste in my mouth toward Holland.  It should be a simple process that they just do the right thing from the beginning.  This should be the sole purpose of so called flight ease which obviously is not so easy 

On 6/5/2022 at 11:23 AM, Torquer said:

Question on transfers from Trieste back to Venice

 

Wow!  Hope things improve for our cruise on Oosterdam later this summer.

 

Can you tell us about the transfers from Trieste back to Venice when disembarking.  What time did the buses leave Trieste?  HAL has refused to tell us what time they will leave, and specifically if they will be early enough to catch flights out of VCE around noon.

I was on this recent cruise. Since I had a 12:15 flight I was on the first Trieste airport shuttle at 6:30. We made it to the airport in pretty good time but the security lines at the airport were horrendous. I don’t think anyone with a flight much earlier than noon would be able to make it  I thought the cruise was nice but my thoughts are similar to previous posters. My feelings about HAL are mostly due to a complete breakdown by them in booking my flights   I am more specific in my recent Fright ease post. I just wasn’t overwhemed by this cruise as I had been by previous ones 

Just returned from the Oosterdam June 1 Mediterranean cruise. Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the Philly airport on June 1 to board my flight to Barcelona only to find out Holland had never ticketed this flight. After a long hold trying to get through I was forced to buy a one way ticket myself that cost over 2500.00 or I would miss the cruise. I will now have my travel agent pursue this refund but not sure how long it will take her to get through or for HAL to post it to my credit card. The onboard experience was nice but definitely soured by my flight problem. I would need to think long and hard before booking with HAL again if ever. 

Lots of typos lately for me. Should read board in the US. Trying to finish a teaching year and plan for a trip has had my head 😵‍💫 

Thanks

1 hour ago, Chewbecca said:

A post on FB from someone on the most recent Oosterdam cruise confirmed BB Kings is replaced by the Rolling Stone lounge.

Thanks. Good to know

I just edited my packing  for my June 1 Oosterdam sailing. Temps will be in the high nineties by next weekend in Florence and Rome☀️

I wonder why they list certain events for the Oosterdam June  1 Cruise as being in the Rolling Stone lounge🥴 deck 2 

Correction. Rolling Stone lounge.  🥴

Several events on my upcoming cruise are listed for this location which is supposed to be on deck 2. I didn’t see it🤷

Thanks so much

10 hours ago, blueexpedition29 said:

all - please be careful : the requirements vary by region/sailing port.  I believe the above is the requirment for Alaska/Canadian sailings.  For europe it is 3 DAYS ( not 72 hours) for either antigen or PCR test

For Europe if I test on a Sunday early on the day for my Wednesday 5pm sailing would this be acceptable?  I must admit to being confused re 3 days vs 72 hours

Where is the meeting point if you are doing a transfer to your cruise ship?  Thanks

10 minutes ago, kiefaber455 said:

Looking forward to responses. Docking in Trieste on July 16th and have a flight to Philadelphia that is scheduled to leave Venice at 12.15 pm. We've been told by HAL that we should be able to make the flight with no problems.

I disembark in Trieste on June 13 and have the same flight to Philly that you do. HAL told me the same thing.  I have Flight Ease. If no one responds to my post I will let you know how I make out  with the timing 

How was your experience in getting to the Venice airport if you had a same day flight home?  Thanks in advance 

Sorry. Title should be a random food question🥴

Does Holland America ever serve onion rings with dinner in Lido or MDR. I think I saw them on Pinnacle Grill menu. Not terribly important I know in the overall scheme of things but I do enjoy a few now and again😁

45 minutes ago, rwmiller said:

On Nieuw Statendam now. Pinnacle Grill lunch only on sea days and open from 12 - 1 pm with reservations at 12, 12:15, 12:30 and 12:45. 
 

Bob

Can you book reservations before you board or is it done onboard ahead of time or the day of? Thanks in advance

Thanks!