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I have noticed when sailing on HAL a refund of port charges shows up quite often in our onboard account.

Is this HAL's attempt to solve the problem of the poor entertainment?  Charge passengers more to stream on their own devices and hope they not notice the lack of entertainment onboard?

17 hours ago, Hogladyrider said:

@canadianbear...NOT filled with custard..that is my all time favorite but this is just outstanding IMO.

One of the things that I like about HAL is the details, especially surrounding the "premium" offerings and it's a thing that I notice.  On our Alaska cruise on the Koningsdam we had this served on the Delft Blue Dinnerware.  

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

 

The Canadian pricing is all over the map.  For example, if I buy HIA separately for my 13 day cruise the exchange rate is a very nice 1.325%.  For my upcoming 25 day cruise, with the EBB - it’s higher.  I played with a bit of math and thought they were adding in for the extra shore excursions but if you are being charged the same per day, it appears not.  In my case, it’s still worth it with the crew appreciation included.

 

But, the differential makes me wonder if the HIA price will be going up again.  On a regular cruise where crew appreciation is not included, I would be tempted to book the advantage fare and buy HIA separately if I wanted it.

I've found CDN pricing all over the map in the past also.  Cruise companies are reporting to shareholders that per passenger spend is way up right now due passengers widely accepting package deals like HIA.  I think there is even more room for price increases as it seems more and more people are willing to pay a bundled price to not have to think about their spending while onboard.

16 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I would give this program a try if I were near a port; sadly, I am 20+ hours drive to nearest HAL port. It's unfortunate 7 days has basically become 1 day notice, but people signing up now can go into it with a different set of expectations due to the painful experiences of those who jumped in at the start. Hopefully HAL will adjust either the wording or the execution as I think the concept is good.

And big congrats to those getting verandah assignments!! Nice win for the pain and effort.

I was thinking the same thing.  I would gladly give it a try but I am not living close to a port and then I realized, what am I thinking?  I am only a 2 hour drive from Montreal.  Must keep my eyes on the Standby list when the Canada/NE cruise lists show up.

Just wanted to add that several posters keep posting that this program is for Inside Cabins.  No where in the T&Cs does it state any type of stateroom at all.  The only mention of stateroom is this statement,

"Guests shall have no ability to select or request a certain room type on the Cruise and, if a stateroom is available, guest will automatically be assigned to such stateroom; no upgrades available."

I understand fully that if you want to participate you should do so with the understanding that you may indeed receive an inside cabin, but let's not forget this program is to fill unsold staterooms.  Unsold staterooms can be at any stateroom category.

You didn't indicate what month you are hoping to sail.  My first cruise to Alaska was in 2014 and it was the first cruise of the season out of Vancouver on the Volendam.  We had a wonderful cruise.  Sunshine every day.  The smaller ship was great and the best part was that the ship sailed midweek so we were the only ship in port.

Last year we again sailed to Alaska on the Koningsdam.  This time the ship sailed on the weekend and  we shared every port stop with 3 - 4 other ships as large as and larger than our ship.  Over tourism in the ports was a challenge and it negatively affected our enjoyment.  For this reason, I suggest you have a look at the Zaandam sailings on May 1st and 8th from Vancouver.

1 hour ago, canadianbear said:

Can I see inside it!!!  I keep seeing photos of it but not what filling is inside 😂😂  I’ve got to try one soon….

I thought I had taken a pic of inside but sadly when I checked just the outside.  It's filled with Chantilly cream which is sweetened whipped cream with vanilla.  Whipped cream on the inside, chocolate on the outside.  I was expecting it to be quite sweet and was happy that it wasn't.

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

@montythecat the current UK price of £65 per day is a bit of a rip off.  Even the more expensive onboard version priced in dollars is better value.

With a departure next December, I would be holding tight and wait for a special offer or watch for reports on this forum as to whether the HIA is available onboard or not.   You can still pre purchase up to about a week before departure.

The current CDN pricing is a bit of a rip off also.

I just checked and for '24 cruises the HIA with 1 Speciality Dining, $100 Shore Excursion, Signature Beverage Package, Surf Wifi and $200 OBC is about $80 pp/pd.

The Early Booking Bonus for cruises in '25 the HIA with 1 Speciality Dining, $100 Shore Excursion, Elite Beverage Package, Premium Wi-Fi and Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation is about $90 pp/pd.

41 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

One question you had that no one has said anything about is whether the price for the HIA might come down. Pretty unlikely, and pretty rare for something like that to happen!

The HIA pricing is tied to the prices of the Beverage Packages.  Not surprising at all that HIA is $10 pp/pd more onboard as that is the cost of the beverage packages also.  HIA pricing will most likely decrease when the beverage packages decrease.  That will most likely happen when passengers stop buying them and HAL needs to discount them in order to sell them.

When we sailed in Nov, we also had a Disney ship in port.  The crowds are definitely an issue.  My advice - don't show up early.  Lots of people do and there will be line ups everywhere.  Cruise passengers love to line up and wait.  A HAL rep told me that the lineup at 9:00 am (no one is boarding at 9:00 am) extended down to the USS Regan.

We had CO with priority embarkation like you will have with a Neptune Suite.  We waited to arrive at the end of our boarding time window and we moved quite quickly through the outside lines.  There were long lines outside for all those early birds for each of the subsequent boarding times.

I found entry to the security clearance area to be a somewhat confusing choke point as you enter on the side at the same time everyone disembarking the ships are basically in the same area.  There were lots of people basically in the same area all trying to go in different directions.  Once inside, there is the typical weaving of long lines and while secuirty staff did a great job of trying to move everyone through, there seemed to be some confusion in the lines regarding priority access.  

Once through security it was a quick stop at actual check in and on to the ship.

My advice is don't arrive early if you are trying to avoid line ups.  If you want to avoid lineups as much as possible, you may want to consider arriving later in the day.  I have never needed assistance boarding yet I wonder if you need assistance do you request that with HAL or with the port itself?  

Isn't it amazing how the internet has evolved?  I have 4 web browsers on my laptop cause I have to find the right browser for the right web page.  It is frustrating.

One option is to delete the cookies for the website and then restart your computer.  A mis-behaving cookie can often be the issue.  Deleting your cache files can often help.  I completed a deep maintenance clean up of 2 of my computers and it has helped address most issues.

When all else fails, I use a basic install of a different web browser.  My choice is Chrome.  I used it without any add-ons, ad blockers or trackers.  If successful, once done I always clear all browsing data so as to have a clean browser for the next incident.

Thanks everyone for the wonderful replies.  Lots more reading to do.  We went ahead and got our TA to book it.  We are doing the Rhine Northbound with the add-on of 3 days Lake Como and 1 day Lucerne.  We are so looking forward to it.

We are about to book an Avalon River cruise and have a couple of questions about the onboard experience:

1.  How much is laundry service?

2.  How much is the service charge for room service?

3.  Any special perks/amenities for Royal Suite passengers?

4.  Are breakfast and lunch options a combination of buffet and made to order items?

5.  Any advice on someone's first river cruise?

6.  Any thing you were surprised with onboard?

So appreciate your review.  The largest ship we have sailed is the Koningsdam and my concern with the larger ships is noise and crowds.  We are looking for smaller, not larger.  

There are 2 things that HAL needs to do to win us back:  improve both its onshore and onboard service and improve its onboard entertainment.  Until then, we will continue looking elsewhere.  If everything aligns we will booking a European River cruise this week.  🤞

3 hours ago, publicpersona said:

Yes, for certain. But there is another way they could approach this. They could leave the program exactly as it is but add that anyone who has not been notified that they have cleared standby within 48 hours of departure has the option to cancel with full refund. Those who get on the standby and cancel further out than 48 hours will still lose their money.

HAL has a cruise waitlist for passengers who want the flexibility to remove themselves from the program prior to sailing.  This program seems to be targeting people who are willing to live with the uncertainty of getting a cabin at a very short notice for a reduced fare.  

4 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

... 

 

And HAL doesn’t even have a proper “boiler plate” cancellation email? This program is either not well thought out and/ or not well implemented. 

I think not well implemented.  We are seeing the implementation pains of a new program.  I don't think HAL even ran a pilot for this program.  Most likely just dusted off its old program of selling unsold cabins on sail away at deeply discounted prices, but made some changes to it so as it could be presented as new and different.  The old business practice of recycling the old by making a slight difference and change the name and hope no one remembers the old. 

I used the term "early adopters" a couple of posts back as anyone partaking of any new program should expect some hiccups.  Early Adopters are generally seen as risk takers and tend to use new products and services before the majority of people do.  The Standby Program may very well get to approximately 7 days notification (as this seems to be the sticking point for a lot of people), but it obviously isn't there yet.  Or it may not.

2 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

Seems like the Holland America Line STANDBY program works like one would think a STANDBY program would work.....It's for folks that are fine jumping on the ship at the last minute....All other folks need not apply......

 

....

I agree.  I also understand why some people may be very upset with HAL as it did post contradicting messages with the need to be within driving distance of the port to passengers receiving notice about 7 days prior to departure.

Perhaps this is a case, as so often in large corporations, of one department not knowing what another does?  The marketing department may very well had thought that passenger would be notified within 7 days, but the Ship Inventory department simply cannot meet that standard.  Any of us who have sailed on ships can appreciate the flurry of activity that is going on with Ship Inventory as sail day approaches with all the guaranteed cabins needed to be assigned, all the upgrades and upsells, last minute cancellations, late arrivals, wait lists and now a standby list.  One of the most asked questions on CC is when are guaranteed cabins assigned with many posters noting not receiving their cabin number until 7 days or less of sailing.

It's great to read though that for some early adopters of this program that they have had great success.  

Yes, I would expect that as HAL has a social media presence that its social media managers monitor social media posts.  Social media posts can be very influential with lots of people these days.

It seems like OP is confusing a charter booking with a large group booking.  With a large group booking HAL may indeed offer cabins to the public as large groups don't need every cabin on the ship.    With a charter though a group books the entire ship.  The only way to travel on the ship during a charter is to book a cabin through the group that has chartered the ship.

4 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Imagine how I felt going back to Alaska in 2021 after a first visit (by cruise ship) in 1977!

 

It is a totally different place now, and not one in which I have much interest.

It seems ironic that it is the cruise lines themselves that are ruining the cruise experience.  

Edit to Add:  Perhaps "ruining the cruise experience" is overly harsh.  Cruise lines are certainly changing it and for some of us, not for the better.

We first sailed to Alaska in 2014.  It was the Volendam's first sailing, midweek and the ship wasn't full.  We were the only ship in port.  It was an outstanding cruise and ranks #2 as the best cruise we have ever taken.

In May of last year we sailed to Alaska on the Koningsdam.  The ship was full.  We sailed on a weekend and in every port there were 3 - 4 other ships as large as and larger than the K.  It was a terrible sight to behold and it was a very different experience than our previous cruise.

The $ spent per cruise passenger isn't for me a great measure.  I know why they use it though.  I can't un-see all those cruise passengers piling out of the ships and overwhelming these small port towns.  The lineup at the Juneau tram never stopped all day.  We had tickets for it and said no way.  The wooden sidewalks in Skagway were crowded with so many people we had trouble getting around.  We enjoyed the cruise, but we both agreed we were so happy that we had sailed in '14 as we most likely will never return.  The cruise lines created this over tourism and have, for us, completely ruined the Alaska experience.

Our cruise experiences this year have changed our outlook, especially around ocean cruising.  We have been wanting to do a Canada/NE cruise for a while now and have decided that this Fall we will drive instead.  We are now researching river cruises over ocean cruises and booking more land based vacations than ever before (2 booked already and finalizing 2 more in the coming days).  I am one to never say never, yet when I ask my DW about booking another ocean cruise, she just shakes her head and says she has no interest in it.

No.  You will be seated in the MDR and should be provided with a Club Orange menu.  I write "should" as some people have previously reported when sailing on a Non-Pinnacle class ship in CO they've had to request the CO menu.

Cruise lines have created this problem and sadly, it seems like they continue to add to it.  Building bigger and more ships means for most people the ship is the destination.  Saving fuel means most cruise lines have reduced their time in port in favour of lower their cruising speed.  Less time in port means less time for passengers to spend money.  And now, we see more and more cruise lines docking at piers far outside of actual ports so that reduces even more passenger time to spend money in port.

Let's not forget the pandemic offered an opportunity for all cruise ports to see what would happen when the ships went away.  For many port inhabitants, they enjoyed their communities much more without the cruise ships.

Cruise lines don't seem to care much about this.  I guess as long as they are selling their ships they will sail somewhere.  And they aren't having any trouble selling right now.  I just priced a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Icon of the Seas for November and it was $12,000 CDN for a regular balcony cabin.  That's a lot of money for what is essentially a crowded, floating resort.  There are a lot of Caribbean resorts that can offer much more value and a better travel experience than what that ship can offer.

Those spending estimates are high compared to spending estimates in Europe.  For many European ports, the negatives far outweigh the positive with cruise ships and is why there is so much strong opposition to cruise ships.

https://www.euronews.com/travel/2023/10/31/cruise-ships-erosion-air-pollution-and-overtourism-are-driving-cities-towards-bans

Our spend tends to be highest flying to an embarkation port and at the embarkation port itself as we fly in a few days prior to the port.  We've also had higher spend after a cruise by adding a few days on at the end like visiting Whistler after our Alaska cruise.  We spend more on getting to and from a cruise than the entire cruise itself.

We travel very differently since the pandemic.  With air travel and baggage issues, for instance, we travel with carry on only.  This essentially means we aren't buying much at all to take back home with us.  We also refuse to travel on crowded enclosed buses so we find ourselves doing more walking tours than paid excursions.