Bumped from Oosterdam 10-29-05 for lesbian cruise--anyone else had this happen?!

[lisabrooke1130]

As for the Chumley's Bears, I suspect they are being bumped too and just don't know it yet. I can't imagine they would fit in with the Olivia group!

 

Still no word from HAL. I checked on switching flights using the FF miles (we had originally booked to San Diego using FF miles) and there are no seats available to switch to either the 10/22 sailing of the Oosterdam or the 10/28 sailing of the Ryndam, either of which would be an acceptable substitute from our perspective. One of the reasons I booked the O-dam so early was to get the FF seats (which with Delta seem to go awfully early)!! So, I don't know what to do other than wait. As far as I am concerned, the longer HAL waits to officially notify us that we have been bumped and offer us some sort of compensation, the stronger position we are in to negotiate. Had we been told a few weeks ago, there may have been FF seats available to switch, but HAL's procrastination is going to cost them. At a bare minimum, they are going to have to pay $100 ($50 per ticket) to have my FF miles redeposited back into my account since they can not be used for this trip anymore. This is all so annoying!

 

Finally, I know it was somewhat provocative to include the word "lesbian" in this post title, but I wanted to get some attention to my situation (and some advice). That being said, I had no idea the conversation would get off into so many tangents. This place is so interesting! Thanks again for the help and advice. I will post again when I hear from HAL.

[tomc]

I can't imagine they would fit in with the Olivia group!

Well, for one thing, you'd be able to tell them apart in an instant. At least, I hope so!

[Nautical Wheeler]

We too have been bumped from the 10/29 cruise but were able to do the 10/22 sailing and change our Delta FF miles at a cost of $100. Would have preferred to sail later but because of another charter 11/5 and inability to use FF miles as the Thanksgiving holiday got closer.......had to settle for 10/22. Got the last SS available. Anyone been in 6113? HAL better come up with some good compensation. Definitely not happy with the change of dates or all the aggravation this has caused. Not a great way to start vacation plans.:( :mad: We were on the O with you last year Lisabrooke and prefer to sail that week as we are always celebrating DH's Birthday. Like yourself we book early so we can use our FF miles. Our TA gave us the same advice........wait and see. Hope all works out well for you and that you will enjoy your anniversary. :)

[lisabrooke1130]

Nautical Wheeler!

 

Hi there. Would have been nice to cruise with you again, but from where we are coming from (DC area), all the Delta FF flights to San Diego to take the 10/22 cruise have been taken (or at least all the 25,000 mile tickets, which is what we originally booked using). Unless HAL is going to pick up the air, we'll have to find some other alternative. We would really like to be at sea on 11/1 (our anniversary), so the 10/22 cruise would have been my last choice.

 

Just curious--were you officially notified by HAL or your TA? Or, did you find out here on the boards? Sounds like you may have heard about all this mess before I did, as you have already had a chance to change your travel plans. I am still booked on the 10/29 cruise and still have my air tickets to get there the day ahead. I am afraid to change anything at this point and just wait and see what HAL will do. Any advice you have would be appreciated. Has HAL agreed to pay that $100 change fee for instance?

 

I hope you have a good time on the 10/22 cruise. As you know, the O-dam is a beauty and you'll get great food and service! You'll have to celebrate a faux birthday onboard instead! :-)

 

Lisa

[Renorita]

Nautical Wheeler and lisabrooke: As you have probably read, we too got bumped. My TA is going to call Monday and try to get us switched to the Nov 12th Cruise, same itinerary. Hope to still get an SS cabin (or better) and also hoping to get some further compensation, as I almost was not able to switch my vacation at this late date. Fortunately, that week came open, but if we they won't give it to us, we will just have to cancel. :(

[tiffnco]

I'm sailing on the 11/19 trip and would love to welcome any and all passengers who have been bumped! So far, there's only two of us cc'rs on this sailing...so come on over!

 

I know it's quite a difference going over Thanksgiving...but just think: no dishes :cool:

[bryanjaync]

So someone got bumped from a cruise due to a lesbian charter, and now the straight person wants to sue for discrimination based on sexual orientation. What a hoot ! Dear straight person, welcome to my world. In most states, it is perfectly legal to discriminate based on sexual orientation...that's right, you can be denied housing, hotel rooms, rental apartments, and yes, even fired from your job just because of your sexual orientation. Yes, for NO OTHER reason than you happen to be gay (or straight). So if you find a sympathic court to take up your battle, good luck ! And I will thank you for joining the battle against discriminatory practices.

[Globaliser]

So someone got bumped from a cruise due to a lesbian charter, and now the straight person wants to sue for discrimination based on sexual orientation. What a hoot !

To be fair, I don't think anyone who got bumped is talking about suing. The suggestion came from someone else who hasn't been bumped. Those who have been bumped are just wanting to make sure that they're properly compensated, which would only be right. That's simply compensation for being bumped, having nothing to do with what sort of group has chartered the ship and got them bumped.

[tomc]

So someone got bumped from a cruise due to a lesbian charter, and now the straight person wants to sue for discrimination based on sexual orientation.

I think they got bumped because there was a whole-ship charter. Lesbians, Elks Club, insurance agents -- doesn't matter. It was a private charter.

[Nautical Wheeler]

LisaBrooke!

 

The whole FF mile thing is what decided our dates for us. I would have preferred to cruise later in Nov......but only Sky Choice was available. I guess it depends where you are leaving from. I know our daughter and son-in-law couldn't get FF

sky saver miles out of Boston for either week. We are coming from Ft. Lauderdale. My TA told me they haven't heard anything from HAL yet re: compensation. She is the one who called and told me about the cancellation.

Wouldn't it be great if HAL would pay your airfare so you could cruise when you wanted too? I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.:) I checked and airfare from Ft. Lauderdale to SF was $400 + pp. :eek:

[wblynch]

 

I checked and airfare from Ft. Lauderdale to SF was $400 + pp. :eek:

 

Wouldn't it be more convenient to fly into San Diego directly? San Francisco is over 500 miles away.

 

The San Diego airport is only a five minute ride from the Cruise Terminal.

 

.

[lisabrooke1130]

I think that is a typo on Nautical Wheeler's part. I am sure she is flying FLL to SD, not SF. You are right--that is a 2-day drive to get from SF to SD.

[lisabrooke1130]

My TA heard from HAL. They are trying to move everyone onto the 10/22 sailing of the Oosterdam. The only compensation they are offering is $50 pp onboard credit, which seems measly to me. The 10/22 sailing doesn't work for us (no frequent-flyer flights left). We looked into other sailings (HAL would move us and guarantee the rate), but nothing really works. Really, we wanted to sail the Oosterdam on our anniversary and anything else would be settling for second best. So, we have cancelled. I need to get HAL to reimburse us for the cost of cancelling the FF reservation we had with Delta ($100), which I am sure will be a hassle. For some reason, Delta can't give me a receipt for this charge unless I pay $20 per ticket--I have to wait for my credit card statement and hope that satisfies HAL.

 

I guess I need to change my signature below and remove the 10/05 Oosterdam! :-(

 

Lisa

[Renorita]

Lisa

 

Really sorry you had to cancel, but can understand why. That was going to be so special for you. :( We thought we were going to have to cancel also, but we did manage to book on the Nov. 12th Cruise, which was the only other week I could get. At least in addition to the $100 per couple Shipboard Credit they are giving us, we still get to keep our Pinnacle/wine/CD Special and also our guaranteed SS cabin. The later is especially good as the SS cabin is much higher than it was on the Oct. 29th sailing, and we didn't have to pay the difference. Hope they give you the $100 for the FF cancelation. :)

 

Rita

[lisabrooke1130]

Thanks Rita! I am glad that you were able to reschedule to a time that worked for you. I am going to save those frequent flyer miles and we'll try the Oosterdam in 2006 (BTW, my TA said she could move us to the 2006 cruise of the Oosterdam sailing at the time of our anniversary, with a rate guarantee, but we thought that was a little long to be out our $700 deposit).

 

Have a blast on the Oosterdam!!

[Nautical Wheeler]

Wouldn't it be more convenient to fly into San Diego directly? San Francisco is over 500 miles away.

 

The San Diego airport is only a five minute ride from the Cruise Terminal.

 

.

 

My typo error........or maybe I left my heart...........but meant FL to SD.:)

[Schplinky]

The suggestion came from someone else who hasn't been bumped.

 

Yes, if i have it straight (pardon the pun), they're going to insist that lesbian charters carry men, that the AA meetings serve liquor, that they can be a nudist on formal night, etc.

[newcruiser452]

Hey, The cruise I booked with a large group is a Christian group that is have a conference on board with several musical groups. Oliva.com is also selling the same cruise so there is room for both on the ship. One thing I did notice is that the internary is different on the Oliva website than on my TA's site and HAL's site. So I wonder who has the internary wrong, OLIVA or HAL and my TA.

[QuitMyDayJob]

When Olivia charters a HAL ship they charter the whole ship and sometimes modify the itinerary. Apparently HAL has left cruises "available" even after Olivia has chartered the specific ship and week. Results in many unhappy, and rightfully so, people who think they've booked a cruise for a specific week only to find out that they are being bumped to another week/ship. It's too bad that the specific cruise can't taken off the availability list once it's chartered by a group.

[Iggipolka]

Hey, The cruise I booked with a large group is a Christian group that is have a conference on board with several musical groups. Oliva.com is also selling the same cruise so there is room for both on the ship. One thing I did notice is that the internary is different on the Oliva website than on my TA's site and HAL's site. So I wonder who has the internary wrong, OLIVA or HAL and my TA.

 

This can't be possible. Olivia charters the entire ship so that the entire cruise is lesbian only. Someone's got a mistake somewhere. Unless, it's a group of lesbian christians!

[newcruiser452]

I called HAL and eveything is good to go. It looks like they are only selling cabins on this cruise and have not chartered it. I would suspect that Oliva.com has some internary information wrong.

 

This group of christians is not just 10 or 20 but the number is in the 100's.

[trubey]

Hey, The cruise I booked with a large group is a Christian group that is have a conference on board with several musical groups. Oliva.com is also selling the same cruise so there is room for both on the ship. One thing I did notice is that the internary is different on the Oliva website than on my TA's site and HAL's site. So I wonder who has the internary wrong, OLIVA or HAL and my TA.

 

The idea of these groups together made me do some investigation. Newcruiser: Are you a trouble maker, or just confused? I saw the following posts of yours on a thread about the WESTERDAM, for January 29th thru February 5th. This thread is about the OOSTERDAM!

 

One of the posts says: "Hey, I just checked out your link and noticed your travel agency has different ports listed. I wonder what's up?" Another says: "I just checked the HAL board and they match my TA. I wonder if your TA has the internary(?) wrong."

 

susan.

[newcruiser452]

I am not trying to start any trouble, I have another thread where I posted my cruise information and someone said they were also going on the cruise and had booked with Oliva.com. When I saw this post and everyone saying that Oliva.com always charters the whole ship I got concerned that my plans were going to be changed. I did check out the Oliva.com site that the other poster on my thread had mentioned and it took me to Oliva.com which had my cruise listed as a different internary. Then I became really concerned so I called my TA today and was told that they do have the Westerdam on 1/29 as a group that will be over half the ship. So I am confused about the OLive.com site unless there is only a small number or single booking for them and they have the internary wrong. I did also check with HAL and the place I booked at is correct.

 

I just want to make sure I do not get to the ship to find out the internary is different. I know that this happens sometimes.

 

Anyway I know we will have others on the ship and I am OK with how ever I am cruise with I just was trying to get some information on this thread when members are making statements such as "When Oliva.com books a cruise they charter the whole thing" which in this case seems to be incorrect.

 

Again I apologize if I have upset or rattled anyone's cage about this. If this is not the place to discuss cruising and all the comes with it with open and honest discussion then I will continue to just read and keep my questions to: "how much are soda cards"

 

Happy cruising.

[Iggipolka]

Olivia always books the entire ship. Always. I've called Olivia and left a message regarding the Westerdam cruise and will let you know what they say when they return my call.

[Renorita]

Iggi

 

Hi, are you going to be sailing on the "O" on the 12th of Nov. or did you schedule the 10/22 Cruise? If the former, we hope to have a chance to meet you. :) I just am glad we were able to switch from the 10/29 sailing to Nov. 12 without too much hassle, as we were so afraid I was not going to be able to switch to another week as our vacation schedule at work was full. Just lucked out that that week opened.