Sea-travelers

Hal usually doesn't post sailing schedules more than a year in advance. start checking spring or summer of this next year.

Sea-travelers sailing on Nieuw Amsterdam, April 10, 2016/19 days Panama Canal from Ft. Lauderdale to Seattle

I don't believe the HAL Res. Agents get commission at all.. Now the PCC may get a bonus based on how many cruises she/he books, but don't think they work on commission either..

 

I could be wrong, but can't find the threads which dealt with the PCC Agents status at HAL..

Hal Reservationist do not make commissions. PCC's make commissions just like a travel agent.

It seems to me that it is costing you vastly more that $400 in disappointment and grief. Were it me, I'd pay the cancellation fee, and have a word with the hotel manager on board.

The hotel manager on the ship would not have anything to do with the cost of the reservation. He or she would address issues on board the ship.

But the OP did not cancel two cabins, she paid full price for a suite ( not an upsell or upgrade). She let HAL know before booking exactly what she intended to do if a suite became available, including moving one child to a family members cabin. At that time HAL did not inform her of any fees. Do people who take an upsell after final payment to a different category pay a cancellation fee on their old cabin?

The point is that HAL knew of the intentions ahead of time when she was put on the waitlist and did not make it clear that penalty fees would be charged.

None of this changes the fact that the OP is not pleased with HAL and will likely take considerable travel dollars elsewhere in the future and not recommend HAL to family and friends.

Being on a waitlist is not the same thing as being offered an upsell. When you are put on a waitlist you are letting HAL know you prefer a different category stateroom. An upsell is when HAL calls you and offers you a higher category but you were not on a waitlist. The sisters also would have paid for the 2 ov staterooms and not have paid for a suite. It doesn't matter what they told HAL they wanted to do if a suite came available. The reservation was made and if something cleared on the waitlist they would have been notified. When someone cancels a stateroom and changes to another stateroom once after final payment, the HAL rep would go over all the fees before the change was made. That would give you a chance to ask questions and decide if it is worth making the change. Look at the $100 per person cancel fee as you would on an airplane ticket (which is much more than $100) or canceling a hotel room.

That's true' date=' however it could have been communicated through a third person (TA) so until she clarifies it's still not clear.[/quote']

 

If she booked through a TA then a HAL rep would not have been able to speak with her about the issue. She would have been referred back to her TA. HAL rep can only discuss your booking if you made the reservation yourself directly with HAL. HAL does have Cancellation fees as well as some TA's. They are separate of each other. Sometimes, due to circumstances, HAL will waive the fee and that can only be done by a supervisor. Even on Holiday weekends supervisors and staff can handle any situations that come up.

I was charged a cancelation fee because as per HAL we went from 2 rooms to one room

When Hal offers an upsell there is no cancelation fee charged. If it is after final payment and you change your reservation to another room than the cancellation fee is charged. It has nothing to do with how many rooms you have booked etc. Read your documents and it will explain it or can also go on Hals website and look up the policy for any changes made after final payment. As others have suggested, ask to speak to a supervisor and see if anything can be done for you. Otherwise, do not let this ruin your special anniversary for your parents. 60 years together is worth celebrating. Congratulations to your parents.

The vc cabin that we were assigned was 5013 on west dam may 3 cruise to Alaska so yes we are past final payment the cvs cabin is in the front of ship about 5 cabins from the front I don't understand what makes this any better than any of the vh cabins that there are only 4 of the vc cabins are 500 pp more than the vh cabins that are in location just as good as the vc all I wanted was a cheap balcony cabin you can not tell me a cabin is worth 1000 more 2 doors apart in other words they raise the price on cvs cabins so people with vh gty cabins won't get price reduction ,obc nothing all I wanted was the 200 Ipaid yesterday back

HAL did give you a much better stateroom and location. However, to you it is not a good location, but this is the main reason why I do not book guarantees. the cruise line, and it doesn't matter which cruise line, can put you any where they want.

I suggest you call HAL and let them know you are not finding what you want in a quad cabin and have them look for you. Sometimes not all that is available will show up online. Doesn't hurt to call, you do not have to book it but they can give the information you need to proceed. The Princendam is a small ship and I do not think it has quad cabins but I know the Ryndam does.

If the air is booked through HAL then you have no worries. Hal will take care of everything to get you to the ship.

Just on the Noordam last month and we took 5 bottles. They did not tag or mark or charge us for the extra 3 bottles while going through the boarding process. We did however pay the corkage fee when we took the extra bottles to the dining room. We could have kept them in the room. We were surprised we were not charged for them while boarding.

Just sailed last month on the Noordam and we were in Stateroom 5186. It fit 4 nicely with lots of room. 6 would fit and would be cozy not tight in my opinion. This was our second time having an aft cabin and we love it! Very peaceful and a little more protection from the wind.

When a person is given permission to leave early from a ship they are given full credit for the whole voyage because they paid for it. Getting off early does require permission from HAL and either your Ta, or yourself if you booked the cruise, should receive a letter stating you are getting off how many days early. Take the letter with you and let the front desk see it, give them a copy. That should take care of any issues with the ship front desk.

If a person cancels the cruise, no matter what reason, if that person had purchased trip protection they would get a refund. I would not expect to get credit towards my mariner status if I did not take the cruise.

We took 5 bottles of wine on the Noordam, Feb 17th and they were not marked in anyway nor we were charged corkage fee before boarding the ship. We were surprised that the extra 3 bottles were not tagged in some way. We could have drank them in our stateroom but did take them to dinner and paid the corkage fee. Did we save money by bringing them on board? No. But we enjoyed the wine we like and worth the corkage fee. We were with friends and also bought a couple of wines off the wine list and was surprised how good they were based on past experience. Have they changed the wine list?

I go to the drugstore and get them to print labels for the medications I take. I then put them on the small pill zip lock bag. I do take a 7 day pill box, so I fill that, then still have the meds separated, but with labels on the meds, when I need to refill the 7 day box. Takes up a lot less space and I carry them in my carry on bag. We are going on a 26 day TA in April, so I'm going to get my labels printed up this week.

 

After saying all of that, I have never had any of my meds questioned anywhere, anytime - but there is always the first time!

great idea about having the labels printed out. Thanks for sharing:)

I always take my medications in original bottles in case something happens and I have to be hospitalized or seek medical attention off the ship. That way there is no questions about my prescriptions.

Did you use the "explore 4" beverage package. If so how did it work.

We had the explore 4 beverage cards and it could be used for coffee, sodas, wine, mixed drinks. We used it during happy hour where the first drink was $6 and the second was a $1. Any mixed drink or wine had to be $7 or less. the mixed drinks were less than most glasses of wine.

We sailed on the Feb 17th, 11 days on the Noordam and had a wonderful cruise. After reading all the post about the Noordam for several months I was not sure what I would find. The ship was in great condition even though the staterooms look a little tired. The food was great. We had dinner twice at the PG and twice at Canaletto and had really good service. The entertainment was above average with BB Kings fantastic! The crew was very courteous, professional, smiling, and helpful. I cannot think of any negative issues that occurred on the ship and would go back on the ship tomorrow if I could. We had friends with us sailing on HAL for the first time who cruise Princess and Celebrity and at the end of the cruise they had a long list of things that HAL does better and would cruise on HAL again. This is my very brief review and I would rate the cruise 99 out of 100 points. Minus 1 point because I could not get my Starbucks coffee drink.

Does HAL assume that your current TA will always be your TA? We are using a TA for our upcoming cruise and so far, we are less than impressed with the service. We are thinking of going back to booking directly with HAL on any future cruises. Is there anything that we need to do other than just booking ourselves?

No Hal Does not assume your current TA will always be your TA. Just book your cruise online or go through reservations. If you book a future cruise while onboard a cruise then your current TA is given the booking. If that happens then when you get home you can call HAL and let them know you are not using the TA but want control of the booking yourself.

It is always good to check prices online to see if your stateroom category has had a price reduction. New promotions come up all the time and your price may go down. I would call HAL and have them check the pricing for you before final is due and if any new promotions would qualify you for a price reduction.

I have used a TA and a PCC but have never transferred a booking. I lean towards dealing with HAL directly unless I can get a really good deal with the TA. My current TA asked me to transfer my Maasdam booking to her letting me know that "HAL prefers to work with TAs". I'm leery of doing this unless there is a big plus in transferring the booking. Will be curious to hear what other CC members think.

 

 

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Not true that HAL prefers to work just with TA's. Your TA wanted your booking and commission would receive for it. In saying that...the transfer has to be done before final payment is due. I have booked my own through HAL and also through a TA. If the TA isn't offering OBC or other perks then there is no reason to transfer the booking. You have already done all the work and you can call HAL anytime and get answers to your questions. Once you have transferred the booking to the TA then all questions have to be through the TA to HAL. Bottom line is what ever works best for you.

Thank you for your review and glad to hear the ship is in good shape. There has been such mixed reviews of the Noordam that I wasn't sure what to expect. I am now packing to leave on the Noordam on the 17th and can hardly wait. Snow in Seattle today and has been very cold so looking forward to sunny weather and having breakfast on our balcony. Thanks again!

CC downloads for me but New Post doesn't show up. This has been going on for almost a week. This is the first time in 2 days I can get on it.

Once you are on board the ship you can change the dinner reservation that has been assigned to you. I have done it.

A charge comes into play if you need your medication after the infirmary is closed.