New beverage cards just posted

[canadarocks]

Laminator:

 

Can you use the beverage card at Happy Hour?

Can you use the soda card to purchase unopened cans of tonic water?

 

Thanks!

[0bnxshs]

As for seperate cards the drink cards are geared more toward the kids and the coffee cards are geared more toward those who do not drink. They also have the friends of Bill W. get togethers everyday.

 

Laminator,

Thanks for your willingness to gather intel while on vacation! It obviously means a lot to people here.

 

However, I can't glean from the answer above whether the punch coffee and soda cards are, like their brethren wine cards, now filed in Davy Jones' Locker. Are they also gone?

 

Thanks, and enjoy your cruise!

[Laminator]

Laminator,

Thanks for your willingness to gather intel while on vacation! It obviously means a lot to people here.

 

However, I can't glean from the answer above whether the punch coffee and soda cards are, like their brethren wine cards, now filed in Davy Jones' Locker. Are they also gone?

 

Thanks, and enjoy your cruise!

 

I will get those answers and the answers to the other questions today.

 

We're presently at Half Moon Cay where it has been cloudy all morning and drizzling off and on. Still great though as it is a vacation.

 

Plus we were fortunate enough to get the upsell call two weeks ago and wound up in the Penthouse Suite. So instead of my better half making me sleep in the hallway I get the couch and she locks the bedroom door.

 

Happy Days!!!!! Could be the best vacation ever.

[darienill]

I will get those answers and the answers to the other questions today.

 

We're presently at Half Moon Cay where it has been cloudy all morning and drizzling off and on. Still great though as it is a vacation.

 

Plus we were fortunate enough to get the upsell call two weeks ago and wound up in the Penthouse Suite. So instead of my better half making me sleep in the hallway I get the couch and she locks the bedroom door.

 

Happy Days!!!!! Could be the best vacation ever.

 

How much was the upcharge? Was it a deal??

[serendipity1499]

The reason they would not be able to do the idea you propose is because the software will not handle that. However asking for an onboard credit of the additional $10 or $20 may work.

 

I can tell you that now that I have been onboard for a full day I have not heard one person at any bar complain about the new system. Most everyone that I have seen likes the convenience of having one card.

 

The 15% gratuity is not included in the price of your drink on your beverage card.

 

As for seperate cards the drink cards are geared more toward the kids and the coffee cards are geared more toward those who do not drink. They also have the friends of Bill W. get togethers everyday.

 

I am also quite sure that if someone were to read the entire contract we agree to when we make our reservations and purchases they will find that HAL has the right to do what they did.

 

The other alternative is to bring your own wine onboard.

 

I'm sure you are right about the contract, but it's the principle of the thing..they also should think about their moral obligation to their passengers..

We don't intend to bring our own wine on board to drink in the MDR...It would cost us much more as would have to pay the $18.00 corkage fee in addition to our wine....

However, I understand about the software problem...I'm going to e-mail Ships Services, mentioning our displeasure & also mention my desire to have this straightened out before we board our cruise..Agree with you that asking perhaps an extra OBC might be the better way to go in order for them to keep their customers happy...

cheers....:)Betty

[wildwoods]

Hi just to confuse things more here is the response I have just recieved:confused:

 

"I have checked with the beverage manager onboard the Nieuw Amsterdam.* He says that the cards will be honored but once they have been used you would have to purchase a new beverage card if you wanted to purchase more drinks at the discounted rate.

*

Thank you & Kind regards,

*

Jennifer Buckner | Holland America Line | Ship Coordinator: ms Nieuw Amsterdam & ms Volendam"

 

Same hymn sheet then............not

I am taking this email with me :D

[a9753]

I have a couple of unused Soda punch Cards, will they still be honored?

[kazu]

Live from the Nieuw Amsterdam - just a quick post to tell you happily that when we got on board, our wine and cocktail cards were waiting here for us :):) despite what I was told by HAL.

 

We are all happy campers here :D

[Crazy Gramps]

We'll just keep buying wine by the bottle.

 

Gramps

[canadarocks]

Live from the Nieuw Amsterdam - just a quick post to tell you happily that when we got on board, our wine and cocktail cards were waiting here for us :):) despite what I was told by HAL.

 

We are all happy campers here :D

 

You must have been so happy that they worked out for you!! :D

Have a wonderful time and thanks for letting us know! :)

[NoWhiners]

Just an FYI, I called to cancel my 4 wine cards purchased for cruise next April. They were very nice and efficient about it; when i expressed my displeasure with HAL, the ship services agent said "we will still honor the card--you will get an OBC". I explained that wasn't good enough and i wanted a refund. Went great--got a confirmation of refund right away.

 

As a result of this, we will bring more wine onboard and reduce what we spend on the cruise. I hope HAL is happy with this result.

 

ML

[dutchgal46]

I think I might like the new wine-card better. As I understand it, the computers/ software keep track of your drinks.

 

 

On our last cruise my husband lost his 20 glass wine card ,I think we still had

8 glasses left , so we had to buy another card.

[airlink diva]

Live from the Nieuw Amsterdam - just a quick post to tell you happily that when we got on board, our wine and cocktail cards were waiting here for us :):) despite what I was told by HAL.

 

We are all happy campers here :D

 

That's good to hear!

I know when I call concerning my cocktail card and soda card, the customer service person told me that they will honor those who purchase the card before the changes were made.

[Bill B]

I think I might like the new wine-card better.

Why... do you enjoy paying more?

 

As I understand it, the computers/ software keep track of your drinks.

No. It's a pre-paid a debit card.

 

On our last cruise my husband lost his 20 glass wine card ,I think we still had 8 glasses left , so we had to buy another card.

If he loses the new card, he'll still be SOL.

[dutchgal46]

Why... do you enjoy paying more?

NO, but we ended up paying for 8 glasses of wine, we did not drink!

so it did cost us more per glass.

 

No. It's a pre-paid a debit card.

 

 

If he loses the new card, he'll still be SOL.

 

Since they keep track of your purchases, it only makes sense to me, that you can cancel it when you misplace or lose the card. They should know exactly how much you have spent on that card.

But I can completely wrong.

[jaspersmycat]

They don't keep track of your purchases with a beverage card. They just reduce the value of the card by the price of the beverage (plus 15% for the gratuity).

[Silver sailor]

:rolleyes:

That's good to hear!

I know when I call concerning my cocktail card and soda card, the customer service person told me that they will honor those who purchase the card before the changes were made.

How will they be honered?

10 or 20 drinks as purchased or an OBC for the amount of the wine card?

[NoWhiners]

:rolleyes:[/color]

How will they be honered?

10 or 20 drinks as purchased or an OBC for the amount of the wine card?

 

Excellent point silver sailor!

 

When I called to cancel mine they told me they would be honored--via an OBC. As has been noted many times here already, this is not nearly as good a deal as the wine cards. HAL just lost itself nearly $400 just from us.

 

I think laminator explained why they won't honor the old cards--a software thing (if I had a dollar for every time I heard that excuse...)! Not being mean--I work at an engineering company and we always get this. Sort of a joke when things are failing "must be a software problem"!!

 

ML

[Linda&Vern]

As the OP to this thread - and now almost 250 comments later - I have a couple of things to say. I originally posted the new beverage card info because after reading for weeks and weeks that everyone was anticipating the discontinuation of the "old" cards and "new" cards being offered, I thought everyone would be excited to finally read about the new offerings. This was not a surprise to anyone who even occasionally reads CC.

 

I don't understand all the displeasure with HAL over their drinks. As an example, just today while DH and I were out doing errands we stopped at a chain family restaurant (not a steakhouse or elite place by any means). I glanced at the wine list. A glass of wine ranged from $6.09 to over $9.00 per glass. I had a diet coke at $2.59 and DH had a beer (domestic) at $4.79.

 

I didn't "take my own" to this restaurant ... do you? Why should we expect to pay less for drinks on a cruise? AND - :rolleyes: I had to "pay for my dinner."

Sorry ... but I just don't get the problem.

[bcirish]

I think I will miss the wine cards but this transition has taken a long time and I am glad that it is done - the threat of change has been around for at least a year. That being said- I love the fact that HAL does not care what you bring aboard - am doing cruises on other cruise lines this next year and hear horror stories of how they take any liquids from you - 2 bottle of wine( only) per cabin regardless of how short or long it is. They talk how they smell your water bottles and make you open things to prove they are not alcohol- gotta tell you - just listening to the stories makes me appreciate HAL. I remember my first cruise watching the wine arrive at the docks by the case followed by cases of soda and water all with luggage tags - what a great idea and now I am one of them!!!!.

I am only saying that you have choices with HAL and IMO - they are generous choices. Last TA we brought 2 cases of wine 2 cases of soda and a couple bottles of liquor and at the end of 28 days - it was gone as well as the wine cards we bought and we had a wonderful time. For our cruise this spring, We will probably have one drink card just for convenience and when we run out of wine we will go see No Whiners since it appears she is coming prepared!:D ( he he he ) and I know where you are staying !!!!!

I always like to have a backup:D

Linda - BTW - thanks for letting us know about the change.

[Laminator]

Hi All:

 

I am sorry for not getting back to all earlier. The internet on the Zuiderdam was touch and go for the last several days.

 

I have to admit that even after being on the Zuiderdam and talking to the food and beverage manager I am confused. Although I was told that the wine cards were no longer available and could not be used I saw several wine cards being used so I really have no clue what is going on. I am not really sure HAL knows either. I completely understand everyone's confusion and frustration and I do not want to provide wrong information. I feel horrendous posting the previous information.

 

I will be going on the Eurodam Nov. 13th. I know several people on that ship and hopefully I can get correct information there. I firmly believe that all of this is so new to HAL that the workers onboard are not 100% sure just yet. There would be no reason for the food and beverage manager who I was familiar with to provide me with bad information.

 

I would like to know if anyone has actually went on a ship where they bought a wine card and were in fact given an onboard credit.

When I mentioned to the server I saw with the wine card that I thought the wine cards were no longer available he told me that the passenger had purchased it prior to the beverage cards. Once again I was in a total state of confusion. Why didn't that passenger get an onboard credit?

 

I will try and get everyone more and better info on the Eurodam. I apologize if I have misled anyone. I can assure you that it was not intentional.

[canadarocks]

Thank you so much Laminator for the updated information. I've been waiting for you to post ;) and I really appreciate your first hand experience.

 

Let us know what happens in November. Thanks again! :)

[0bnxshs]

I apologize if I have misled anyone. I can assure you that it was not intentional.

 

Laminator,

No apologies! I truly hope no one feels mis-led by anything you have tried to do here. You did your best and were repeating what you were told onboard. Far more than could be expected. It is obvious by your experiences and many others here that HAL has really scr*wed the pooch on this whole changeover process and turned it into a debacle! What an oh-so-poor PR mess they've turned it into. But, if we've learned anything at all about being loyal to brands/banks/cars/airlines/you-name-it, it's been to learn that our loyalty counts for zero, nada, nothing! :eek: None of us should be surprised by that.

 

Such a shame. I think mostly we'd just like a bit of consistency from HAL. It just isn't happening. :(

[Silver sailor]

 

I don't understand all the displeasure with HAL over their drinks. As an example, just today while DH and I were out doing errands we stopped at a chain family restaurant (not a steakhouse or elite place by any means). I glanced at the wine list. A glass of wine ranged from $6.09 to over $9.00 per glass. I had a diet coke at $2.59 and DH had a beer (domestic) at $4.79.

 

I didn't "take my own" to this restaurant ... do you? Why should we expect to pay less for drinks on a cruise? AND - :rolleyes: I had to "pay for my dinner."

 

Sorry ... but I just don't get the problem.

 

 

Hopefully I can explain the problem

I purcahsed 20 drinks of wine from HAL (price does not matter) on September 28 HAL discontinued the card on October 4 SIX DAYS AFTER HAL SOLD a PRODUCT, TOOK MY $$$$ WHEN THEY KNEW THAT THE ITEM THAT I PURCHASED , IN GOOD FAITH ,WAS NOT GOING TO BE AVAILABLE

 

How many others did HAL do the same thing to ?

 

It is not a matter of price . If you purcahed a stateroom at a specific price and a few days later the price was increased would you feel that was ethical?

 

I will eventually cancel my purchase and will pay whatever the price of ANYTHING is when we sail (April 2011)

 

No matter what the purpose of your original post was . Hope you can understand why some of us are not as understanding regarding HAL's deception(to use a milder word)

[canadarocks]

The OP feels that this thread has descended into a debate over drink prices, etc., and I can understand their confusion. I have not been a part of that. I have no dispute with HAL about their drink prices, nor their policies about bringing beverages onboard. So OP I do apologize that this thread that you intended solely as an information provider has surprised you with the direction it has taken.

 

My cruise is in March 2011. I reserved 2 twenty pour wine cards six months before that cruise. Bought and paid for. So I do not and cannot apologize for my preoccupation with whether or not my purchase will be honored. I am not "excited" with the news that the system has changed.