New beverage cards just posted

[kazu]

I just spoke to a manager at HAL. All of the wine cards are gone. They will not even be on the ships. Even if it is changed on your booking, it wil be changed back to the new card once onboard. I AM SO FRUSTRATED WITH HAL!!!!!!!!

 

Seriously? That's not right. Then they should be emailing everyone who ordered and giving them options. They have all our emails from orders. I haven't heard back from HAL yet of course as they are not there on the wekend. If I am going to cancel, I have to do it today (I think - I better check the website).

 

Curious to see how they will convert them since wine cards and cocktail card are not even $50 increments.

[boards]

So a $100 card costs just $100, not plus the service charge, right? The wine card for 20 drinks cost $77.63 which included the service charge, right? They will punch the total cost of the wine + service charge against against the total cost of the card $77.63, right?

[serendipity1499]

So a $100 card costs just $100, not plus the service charge, right?

 

Not entirely correct...The $100 card cost $90.00 not $100...

It does not include the service charge..It's like a debit card with a 10% discount..They will charge you on board for your drink plus the 15% service charge..

 

 

The wine card for 20 drinks cost $77.63 which included the service charge, right? They will punch the total cost of the wine + service charge against against the total cost of the card $77.63, right?

 

Yes that is correct..It is a punch card & it includes the service charge..However they stopped selling the wine cards on the ships & on-line, this week...You can now only purchase the $50 Beverage Card for $45 or the $100 for $90.

Cheers....:)Betty

[GeriatricNurse]

Thanks for posting. We definitely won't bebothering with the new cards. :(

Hopefully our wine cards will be accepted next March.

 

 

Nor will I!:mad: I guess that the wine cards proved too much of a good thing, (for the passengers)! Next, HAL will probably eliminate the policy of one being able to bring onboard unlimited wine, champagne, soda & water!;)

[slimknyzer]

Nor will I!:mad: I guess that the wine cards proved too much of a good thing, (for the passengers)! Next, HAL will probably eliminate the policy of one being able to bring onboard unlimited wine, champagne, soda & water!;)

 

Oh...I sure hope not!

[slimknyzer]

I just got off the phone with HAL guest services. I had purchased wine and soda cards via the internet for our upcoming cruise. Guest Services said as we embark the ship, we will be given the option to purchase beverage cards. Our existing purchase will be refunded as a Shipboard Credit than can be used to purchase the new beverage cards. I expressed my displeasure with this.........which fell upon deaf ears. I would have preferred a refund to my credit card, but that's just me. LOL.

[canadarocks]

I just got off the phone with HAL guest services. I had purchased wine and soda cards via the internet for our upcoming cruise. Guest Services said as we embark the ship, we will be given the option to purchase beverage cards. Our existing purchase will be refunded as a Shipboard Credit than can be used to purchase the new beverage cards. I expressed my displeasure with this.........which fell upon deaf ears. I would have preferred a refund to my credit card, but that's just me. LOL.

 

Can't you call back and have them do just that? (refund your card)

[boards]

We have purchased through Hal guest services the 20 drink wine card. My DW wants the wine card, so if is going to be accepted by them (HAL), why would I change for a drink card? I will purchase my drinks separately from hers by whatever means card or directly.

[slimknyzer]

Can't you call back and have them do just that? (refund your card)

Thanks, I did call back and had my money refunded. I was again told I could have a shipboard credit for "drinks only". I chose the refund. What a shame that any "small" advantage to the guest seems to disappear!

Stay cruising my friends!

[canadarocks]

We have purchased through Hal guest services the 20 drink wine card. My DW wants the wine card, so if is going to be accepted by them (HAL), why would I change for a drink card? I will purchase my drinks separately from hers by whatever means card or directly.

 

The question is whether your wife's wine card will be accepted at all! :mad:

Ship Services is apparently stating that they will not be and will be exchanged for onboard credit. Hopefully someone cruising now or shortly will return and post what their actual experience was.

[boards]

Yes I guess you are right on that (canadarocks). The only reason we got the wine card was she liked not having to sign anything and a few times the wine steward didn't even punch her card (that is the main reason actually). Will wait till we hear more and probably till we get on the ship which is only 3 weeks (Wednesday). We will buy some wine in FLL before boarding for the cabin.

[Hawaiidan]

well.... looked at my next sailing and It is shown as a 20 glass card

then seeing the possibility of change I purchased 7 of the 20 glass cards for a cruise next year... and have not been advised that they willl be converted.... or refunded... they still have them listed for the October 2011 dailint !!!

[wildwoods]

It would be really nice to know what is going on here. We booked the wine (20 glass) cocktail and coffee cards as gifts from our friends about 9 months ago for our NA cruise in November. If HAL are not going to honour them :mad: then they should inform all purchaser now. We have been invited to buy, we have bought therefore HAL should honour their commitment, they should not be able to change their mind after a payment has been made. I do not want this refund to be on drinks as I would rather buy my own wine before hand :confused:

[Laminator]

The question is whether your wife's wine card will be accepted at all! :mad:

Ship Services is apparently stating that they will not be and will be exchanged for onboard credit. Hopefully someone cruising now or shortly will return and post what their actual experience was.

 

As I stated in an earlier post I will get as many answers as I can for you on Thursday. I will be boarding the Zuiderdam then. On my Oosterdam cruise three weeks ago the gratuity was included with a beverage card purchase. Now I am hearing it is not. I am guessing, as other pax have also, that HAL is in the process of updating their software. As each update progression is made the way the charges are applied change.

 

I think alot of the problems stem from the fact that the updates need to be done ship by ship and you consequently have different ships with different policies. I am hopeful that whatever the new policy is it will be completed soon so there is not mass confusion.

 

I will do my best to get you answers this Thursday.

[Typhoon1]

In other words, if I purchase a $5.00 drink, the actual charge that is deducted from my $100 card is $5.75....Is this a correct assumption?..

 

The bartenders will be happy. With the old soda cards, they weren't making any money.

[kazu]

well.... looked at my next sailing and It is shown as a 20 glass card

then seeing the possibility of change I purchased 7 of the 20 glass cards for a cruise next year... and have not been advised that they willl be converted.... or refunded... they still have them listed for the October 2011 dailint !!!

 

We are sailing in less than one week :p and my custom itinerary still shows my wine and cocktail cards. No response from HAL from my email so I called. I was told we would receive OBC and could buy beverage cards.

 

Don't count on what it shows you are getting. :rolleyes: I really think Hal dropped the ball on this one big time.

[Silver sailor]

If HAL insists that the card will not be available but will issue an OBC why not do the following

Assume the price per glass for the house wine , including 15%tip, is $5

 

For those who purchased a 10 pour make the OBC $50.00

10 glasses at $5.

 

Those who purchased 20 make the OBC $100.00 20X $5

 

Every one would still get the number of drinks they purchaed for either $40 or $77

 

No additional cost to HAL, might be lost revenue, but they would still be supplying the same amount of drinks for same amount paid for the card

[slimknyzer]

Sounds good except they said No. I also purchased 20 pour punch cards and was told I would get an OBC to purchase drinks only. I opted for a refund, which they gladly did...although it was not initially offered to me.

[serendipity1499]

If HAL insists that the card will not be available but will issue an OBC why not do the following

Assume the price per glass for the house wine , including 15%tip, is $5

 

For those who purchased a 10 pour make the OBC $50.00

10 glasses at $5.

 

Those who purchased 20 make the OBC $100.00 20X $5

 

Every one would still get the number of drinks they purchaed for either $40 or $77

 

No additional cost to HAL, might be lost revenue, but they would still be supplying the same amount of drinks for same amount paid for the card

 

Well I agree it sounds like a solution, however it is not to those of us who have pre- purchased the wine Cards & have paid for them...

The 20 pour wine cards cost was $77.63, which means that each glass of wine cost $3.88 per glass including the 15% Service charge..So if HAL now charges us $5.00 instead it now becomes a 30% increase on the house pour...IMO that is a large increase...

And if HAL charges us the menu price plus 15%, which is the price that will be charged, when we use the beverage cards, it could even be more of an increase on the house pour depending on what the price is...

 

When one orders Furniture & the price increases before it is delivered, I would not expect to pay any more than what was charged to my credit card...Would you agree to pay an increase in this case?

IMO they should not have taken my order for three Wine Cards...Now that they have charged my credit card, HAL should honor what we have purchased...

Cheers...:)Betty

[slimknyzer]

Yes they should................and No they won't.

[canadarocks]

When is the latest time that you can cancel something that you've ordered for a cruise? Because I would be darned sure to cancel any pre-purchased wine, cocktail, and soda cards before that time elapses if I was cruising soon.

 

Personally, I think to not do so is letting HAL get away with very unethical behavior. If we wanted to put money towards an onboard credit, we would have done so! It is not HAL's place to make that assumption. :mad:

 

If they don't change the beverage cards back to wine cards, I'm definitely canceling our order. But we don't sail until next March, and I'm holding out hope that the backlash from this mess will make HAL change its very unpopular decision before then. :rolleyes:

 

The former head of NBC didn't take over HAL, did he? ;) :D

Worst decision since the Leno/O'Brien debacle!

[pokeyjones]

1) I, too, would appreciate them offering the wine card again, even if they raised the rate. It was one of the little touches that set Holland America apart from the other lines.

 

2) I might bring more wine onboard, but I enjoy joining my dinner companions with a glass of wine while they indulge in their premium bottles. I will order wine by the glass, but not nearly as often as when I'd committed to a 10 or 20 pour card.

 

3) I think you're right--someday they will limit the amount of wine you can bring onboard, or possibly ban it entirely.

 

4) The only thing I disagree with is that HAL holds the cards--this decision smacks of revenue optimizing by the parent company, Carnival, not HAL.

 

Yes they should................and No they won't.

 

I am recently back from a Carnival Cruise, having only HAL to compare to. I missed the wine pour card!

 

Carnival policy is a limit of one 750ml wine bottle per of age passengers packed in your carry on. You may carry on limited (generous amount if you want to tote it about until you can get into your cabin) carbonated beverages, and of course, absolutely no beer or spirits were permitted to be brought onboard.

 

My house wine purchase on board was $8 a glass, plus gratuity =$9.20 a glass. In the MDR they were bringing the wine in a small measured carafe, perhaps 125 cc. :confused:

 

Drinks varied from $6.75 to 12$ plus gratuity. Beer was about $5.25 plus grat.

 

Oh, yes, and, they inspected your checked baggage for contraband. You were invited down to security if you had something removed from your baggage. ;) (No wonder there are lots of questions about rum runners on the Carnival boards) If your baggage was inspected, and nothing removed, a note was presented with your baggage. Both sets of circumstances happened with CCer's on our cruise.

 

Oh, how I missed HAL, but, it's looking more and more like Carnival every day :eek:. IMO the prices should start eeking up to Carnival's rate's sometime in the near future.

[RSVE821]

Our 25th cruise will be coming up in November and it will be the first on HAL. I gotta tell ya, this whole thing is certainly not a good first impression. Having been involved in customer service my entire career, this is a prime example of poor customer service. I don't know how long the old wine/cocktail cards were in effect but it boggles my mind that HAL would choose to alienate long time customers and newbies to HAL like myself by not honoring those cards that were already sold. Sure, the economy dictates not to offer them in the future, but not to honor what has already been sold is not good business sense. At least we CC members have a heads up. Those that don't read these boards and have bought the cards in advance with no advance notification that they will not be honored as purchased....is HAL that desperate for revenue??? HAL, I know you read these boards, it's not to late to do the right thing by way of common sense good customer service standards that I was lead to believe you stood for!

[canadarocks]

One more thought and then I'll try to forget about this topic for awhile, because it is actually making me angry enough to reconsider cruising with Holland America at all. :mad:

 

If HAL thinks it is okay to sell clients something specific, then take our money and assume we'll just spend it somewhere else once onboard.....

 

What's to stop them from cancelling anything we pre-pay for: ie. shore excursions, dining reservations, particular cabins, etc. ? :eek:

[NoWhiners]

As I stated in an earlier post I will get as many answers as I can for you on Thursday. I will be boarding the Zuiderdam then. On my Oosterdam cruise three weeks ago the gratuity was included with a beverage card purchase. Now I am hearing it is not. I am guessing, as other pax have also, that HAL is in the process of updating their software. As each update progression is made the way the charges are applied change.

 

I think alot of the problems stem from the fact that the updates need to be done ship by ship and you consequently have different ships with different policies. I am hopeful that whatever the new policy is it will be completed soon so there is not mass confusion.

 

I will do my best to get you answers this Thursday.

 

Laminator

 

i for one think you are our best hope for a credible answer and look forward to your report! thanks for taking this on; I can't wait to hear the answer!!

 

Oh, and by the way, have a great cruise!!

 

ML

 

One more thought and then I'll try to forget about this topic for awhile, because it is actually making me angry enough to reconsider cruising with Holland America at all. :mad:

 

If HAL thinks it is okay to sell clients something specific, then take our money and assume we'll just spend it somewhere else once onboard.....

 

What's to stop them from cancelling anything we pre-pay for: ie. shore excursions, dining reservations, particular cabins, etc. ? :eek:

 

CR

 

I agree and am angry enough to spit!! Pisses me off that they can do this but if i want to change anything, I have to "rebook" and pay a penalty!! I expect them to honor the original sale, not do some "bait and switch". i really expected better from HAL.

 

And as far as DBA's answer, well, let's just say he sounds like a good company man (just pass the buck, don't actually do anything to communicate the bad taste this is leaving in our mouths). makes me glad i never wasted time posting to DBAs thread/blog.

 

reminds me of Network (the movie--"I'm mad as hell and not going to take it anymore"!!

 

ML