Booked Eurodam Inaugural cabin today!

We got a call this AM from HAL asking us if we wanted to book our cabin on Inaugural . YEAH!!!! We got an aft veranda for ourselves and an inside for our daughter. Booking just confirmed.:D

What is the date and itinerary?

We got a call this AM from HAL asking us if we wanted to book our cabin on Inaugural . YEAH!!!! We got an aft veranda for ourselves and an inside for our daughter. Booking just confirmed.:D

Oh Frabjous Day! Calloo, Callay!:) (to quote Lewis Carroll)

Congrats, Peggy!

Karin

I'de love to know the date as well. Your signature shows you sailing on the Eurodam in July 08 but, the HAL website shows the Eurodam starting to sail in Oct. 08. Is the inaugoral cruise a "special invite only"?

So much for having a booking already. :(

Oh, well.

When I'm aboard the Ryndam next week -- assuming there's a future cruise consultant aboard -- I'm going to straighten all this out and get our cabin, etc.

Greg,

There should be a consultant onboard. Front desk should have the # to call arrange booking. You'll be able to book cabin directly then. I was told HAL opened up all 2008 European cruises today.

Or you could call HAL today.

Peggy

Duffys,

The 7/08 was month and year. The inaugural sail July 5, 2008. The date changed from original. I'll correct in my signature so there's no confusion.

Peggy

Cruznon - just curious what you and others do about purchasing trip insurance, including cancellation insurance, over a year in advance?

I know Hal requires it at the time of booking and other policys (including those on insuremytrip.com) within 14 days and it is very expensive (and I was told could not be transfered to another date - even on the same ship and itinerary)

Thanks.

What is the date and itinerary?

This should be it:

Inaugural sailing is scheduled for JULY 5, 2008

10-Day Norwegian Fjords and Scotland

0 Copenhagen, Denmark

1 Oslo, Norway

2 At sea

3 Alesund, Norway

4 Vik, Norway *Service call for shore ex.

Scenic cruising Aurlandsfjord

Flam, Norway

Scenic cruising Sognefjord

5 Stavanger, Norway

6 Newcastle upon Tyne, England

7 South Queensferry (Edinburgh), Scotland

8 Invergordon, Scotland

9 At sea

10 Copenhagen

My confirmation for the Inaugural Cruise is for July 5, 2008 Departure. The itinerary is as above posted by Copper. I have not yet received pricing nor the confirmation of being assigned the cabin we requested.

I expect we'll be hearing shortly and will post when that happens.

Cruznon - just curious what you and others do about purchasing trip insurance, including cancellation insurance, over a year in advance?

 

I know Hal requires it at the time of booking and other policys (including those on insuremytrip.com) within 14 days and it is very expensive (and I was told could not be transfered to another date - even on the same ship and itinerary)

 

Thanks.

I always purchase third party insurance (I like Travelex Travel Lite from http://www.insuremytrip.com). I have no problem purchasing insurance that far in advance. In fact, we booked the Westerdam for Oct. 2008 while we were onboard the Westerdam in January, and I purchased the insurance within the 21 day timeframe so that pre-existing conditions would be covered. If our travel plans change, Travelex is very good about simply transferring the policy over to our new travel plans/dates.

I always purchase third party insurance (I like Travelex Travel Lite from www.insuremytrip.com). I have no problem purchasing insurance that far in advance. In fact, we booked the Westerdam for Oct. 2008 while we were onboard the Westerdam in January, and I purchased the insurance within the 21 day timeframe so that pre-existing conditions would be covered. If our travel plans change, Travelex is very good about simply transferring the policy over to our new travel plans/dates.

Jerseygirl, that is great information that I have been looking for. Hal will not transfer for any reason. I guess I need to see if Travelex was one of the two offered on insuremytrip that had cancellation insurance. They only has two policys but they were for a 75% refund (Hal platinum is 90%), but I am worried booking a year in advance and loosing the insurance because I need to change my plans.

I would think the cancelation protection part would be a problem since customers could keep changing their trip and the insurance company would loose money once in the 90 days or whenever Hal requires full payment?

I just found the response from insuremytrip. Only M.H. Ross and TravelSafe offer "cancel for any reason".

"We do offer "cancel for any reason" policies with two package policies.

M.H.Ross and TravelSafe. Please read below the qualifications for this coverage. **Must purchase one of these policies within 15-days of your first trip payment or deposit.**

Optional Cancel For Any Reason Benefit:

If you cancel your Trip for any reason not otherwise covered by this policy, we will reimburse you for 75% of the prepaid, forfeited, non-refundable Payments or Deposits you paid for your Trip provided:

1. your enrollment form and premium payment is received (or, if mailed, is

post-marked) within 15 days of the date your initial deposit/payment for your Trip is received; and

2. you insure all prepaid Trip costs that are subject to cancellation penalties or restrictions and also insure within 15 days of the payment for those arrangements the cost of any subsequent arrangements (or any other arrangements not made through your travel agent) added to your Trip; and

3. you cancel your Trip two (2) days or more before your Scheduled Trip Departure Date.

The package policies are designed for travelers going on a single trip.

They can

be used for Cruises, Tours, Flights, House Rentals and a world of other trip types"

Peggy, I just want to say congratulations:) How wonderful. I only wish Tom and I could join all of you. The length of time and the dates make it impossible for us to do this cruise. Unless a miracle happend and Publisher Clearing House came knocking at my door and I could retire early:D

I cannot tell you how much I would love to join all of you that are going.

Insurance question......

Seeing as some of us paid $100 per person to go on Future Cruise Request list for Eurodam's Inaugural Voyage due to the fact bookings were not yet possible.........

And, when the booking becomes possible, the $100 we have paid will transfer as deposit and we will provide additional funds to pay the whole deposit amount........

At what point would it be considered we had paid any funds for that cruise?

To date, I paid $100 per person to go on a list but we do not have cabin number or price yet........

So, have we yet booked the cruise in terms of insurance and booking within certain period of time in order to have previous conditions covered?

We don't know how much insurance we need as we don't have the price of the cruise yet.

(I see this as possibly a muddy instance where an insurance company can find an out and a reason to refuse compensation in the event of a claim. Anyone else see it that way?)

Apparently, HAL are waiting for those of us who booked aboard ship to be contacted by our TA's, or they've categorized us as "Guarantees"

I've had to get Scotty's TA to release my booking so I can contact HAL directly tomorrow and specify staterooms for myself and my parents.

S7S--

Since we only put $100 down aboard ship and have no need to put an additional deposit until 3 months out - there would be no "Cancellation" fee until we make final payment - prior to that we can always move our $100 deposit to another cruise to be used within 4 years of the initial booking.

Insurance question......

 

(I see this as possibly a muddy instance where an insurance company can find an out and a reason to refuse compensation in the event of a claim. Anyone else see it that way?)

It sounds like you bought an option to sail on a future cruise. When you exercize the option, you will have a real booking, that can be insured.

Hammybee.....Thank You. Yes, that does describe the circumstance. Perfect.

Brian.....I didn't place our deposit on the ship. I waited until we came home.

Seeing as some of us paid $100 per person to go on Future Cruise Request list for Eurodam's Inaugural Voyage due to the fact bookings were not yet possible.........

 

And, when the booking becomes possible, the $100 we have paid will transfer as deposit and we will provide additional funds to pay the whole deposit amount........

Sail - My understanding is that the $100/pp we paid on-board was a deposit for the cruise itself (even though actual details weren't available) meaning that no additional funds will actually be required until final payment date. Am I wrong? :confused:

My problem is a little more annoying. I have been having a horrible time getting the TA I used for the Noordam cruise to release my Rotterdam Antarctica Cruise (Jan 2008) -- which I booked while aboard the Noordam -- so that I can transfer it to the TA that is responsible for our group arrangements. :( This is the same TA who will have my booking for the Eurodam.

It's been 3 weeks since I first requested that this agency release my Rotterdam booking, and after 4 e-mails and faxed request I still cannot get them to respond or release my Rotterdam cruise. Phone calls simply reach a voice mail, and I have had no responses back from those phone messages.

So ... I'm going to have to ask the Future Cruise consultants aboard the Ryndam to cancel BOTH my bookings and re-book at that time. :( Annoying, but necessary.

I think that is correct for those who gave the $100 while onboard, Susan.

We didn't wish to do it onboard for various reasons and waited until we came home. That was the best thing for us to do.

We also have only paid $100 but will make additional deposit when the final prices are announced and we are advised we have gotten the cabin we requested. My understanding is the money we paid was to go on Future Cruise Request List...not actually make deposit for the cruise. Those funds will transfer when we actually find out (and agree to) the terms such as price and cabin etc.

I think that is going to be an amazing cruise and we really want to be on it.

We're certainly looking forward to sailing again with you and DH.

Greg....... I feel your pain. I wished to transfer a booking from one TA to 'elsewhere' this week and ran into a person who was less than cooperative. This person replaced the TA I initially dealt with at that Agency. The original TA left the company and no one bothered to advise me.

I ultimately cancelled the cruise (it was prior to final payment so no penalty) but took a real risk I could have lost our Suite .....back-to-back booking.

We wanted that Suite and we certainly wanted to stay in the same cabin and not have to move for the second part of our cruise.

Because the person we were transferring the booking to spent considerable time and effort on our behalf, it worked out fine.

Somehow I have this gnawing feeling in my stomach that you and I might be talking about the same Agency......one I dealt with because I HAD to; not because I chose to. But, definitely never will again.

My problem is a little more annoying. I have been having a horrible time getting the TA I used for the Noordam cruise to release my Rotterdam Antarctica Cruise (Jan 2008) -- which I booked while aboard the Noordam -- so that I can transfer it to the TA that is responsible for our group arrangements. :( This is the same TA who will have my booking for the Eurodam.

 

It's been 3 weeks since I first requested that this agency release my Rotterdam booking, and after 4 e-mails and faxed request I still cannot get them to respond or release my Rotterdam cruise. Phone calls simply reach a voice mail, and I have had no responses back from those phone messages.

 

So ... I'm going to have to ask the Future Cruise consultants aboard the Ryndam to cancel BOTH my bookings and re-book at that time. :( Annoying, but necessary.

That sounds like a royal pain in the you-know-what, Greg. I can't believe some TA's actually pull crap like that! Hopefully the Future Cruise consultants will be able to just cancel your booking and re-book you in the same stateroom/category.

....and hopefully, Greg, you will get the same price.

I am paying more than the amount of our original booking. She was very nasty IMO to refuse to transfer the booking. It is very tempting to spread her (and her Agency's) bad name all over the place to any cruiser who was interested in hearing which Agency (and Agent) I would never recommend.

That sounds like a royal pain in the you-know-what, Greg. I can't believe some TA's actually pull crap like that! Hopefully the Future Cruise consultants will be able to just cancel your booking and re-book you in the same stateroom/category.

It should be possible. Tomorrow I plan on trying to phone the agency directly again ... and I will continue to try and contact them and get them to release my bookings before I depart. I have already warned them that they will not be keeping the booking NO MATTER WHAT they do, so ... there is no reason for them to be ruining their good name. I've already warned them that I will publicize their agency's name on my photo galleries, and that I will post a warning for no one to ever use them ... and, as all of you know, my photo galleries are visited by THOUSANDS of cruisers and potential cruises each year. But, thus far, no response. I don't like issuing threats like that, but I WILL do it if they don't release my bookings and force me to cancel them outright.