Can HAL put us in a quad cabin if I booked 2 guaranteed cabins?

[Yungs]

Hi, I have a question for all the experts out there :)

 

We booked and have made final payment on two cat HH guaranteed cabins on an upcoming Volendam sailing, for four people, with two people in each cabin.

We have two different booking reference numbers.

 

Now I see that they have allocated our room, but they have cancelled one of our bookings and put us all in one quad cabin. They have given us an "upgrade" to an F cat cabin. I am really unhappy about this, as I wanted two cabins for the space! Can they do this? Can I cancel after final payment if they refuse to change it back?

[luvcruisn']

Contact your TA or HAL if you booked directly with them, to get the other cabin back.

[SunnyinDubai]

Hi, I have a question for all the experts out there :)

 

We booked and have made final payment on two cat HH guaranteed cabins on an upcoming Volendam sailing, for four people, with two people in each cabin.

We have two different booking reference numbers.

 

Now I see that they have allocated our room, but they have cancelled one of our bookings and put us all in one quad cabin. They have given us an "upgrade" to an F cat cabin. I am really unhappy about this, as I wanted two cabins for the space! Can they do this? Can I cancel after final payment if they refuse to change it back?

 

Which sailing is this for Yung? We have a sailing next week and have been allocated 2 HH cabins...I am hoping they do not do the same to us too. :(

[Yungs]

It is Volendam 5th December this year from Sydney to NZ to Sydney. I have contacted my TA who is looking into it, but no word yet and I thought I would ask around in the meantime.

Cheers

Megan

[SunnyinDubai]

Well if you paid for 2 cabins then you should get 2 cabins....and yes, the space is much better with the 2 cabins. I do hope you get it resolved. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

I hope you have a GREAT TA -- it is not right that HAL is doing that to you - especially after final payment.

[kazu]

I never heard of this before. I totally agree - you paid for 2 cabins - you should be getting 2 cabins. Jump all over your TA until it is resolved. Don't let them piddle around. Otherwise one of your cabins should have been fully refunded IMO

[peaches from georgia]

This is outrageous in so many ways. Don't accept any cockamamie excuse that this is normal procedure for a guarantee. You booked 2 cabins, not 1. If they try to say the price of the quad is = to or more than the price of the 2 lower category cabins, that is totally beside the point. You had 2 separate bookings, maybe for space reasons but possibly also for privacy issues and cancelling one booking is not HAL's right to do.

 

If combining 2 guarantee bookings into one is the new policy and HAL's prerogative to do, I suppose they also would have the right to put total strangers together? :eek: I hope your TA will go as high as she has to in order to get this changed immediately, but also to get an explanation of what the heck is going on and how this happened.

[eh2zed]

This would be highly unusual and inappropriate. Must be their mistake. And with two separate booking numbers how would they know you were sailing together anyway. Other than a note on the file for dining reservations. But I don't think that would cause it. et your TA to correct it. Let us know

[jtl513]

We have two different booking reference numbers.

 

Now I see that they have allocated our room, but they have cancelled one of our bookings and put us all in one quad cabin.

Somebody goofed BIG TIME! Insist on getting two cabins ... or an upgrade to a Suite!! :D

[bcd2010]

I wonder if it is the TA's doing rather than HAL's? E.g., to sell more cabins.

 

If HAL overbooks, they offer incentives (for other cruises, not to double up). If one of the cabins was booked for minor children, HAL would inquire/disallow and you could reallocate who's in what cabin.

 

I've never heard of such a thing and would not allow it. It seems totally absurd that this would be done.

[lcand1923]

Two Booking Numbers = Two Cabins

 

Someone made a HUGE mistake. You had TWO Gty cabins and should still have TWO cabins.

[kazu]

I hope the op comes back once things are 'fixed' and let's us know how they made out

[lvz2cruz]

This reminded me of the time I paid a deposit online and it disappeared. The next day HAL released my cabin for nonpayment and someone else booked it.

Yungs, has your credit card been charged for both bookings?

 

I cannot imagine them doing this if you had paid for 2 cabins and am sure it will be fixed.

[Boytjie]

This is outrageous in so many ways. Don't accept any cockamamie excuse that this is normal procedure for a guarantee. You booked 2 cabins, not 1. If they try to say the price of the quad is = to or more than the price of the 2 lower category cabins, that is totally beside the point. You had 2 separate bookings, maybe for space reasons but possibly also for privacy issues and cancelling one booking is not HAL's right to do.

 

If combining 2 guarantee bookings into one is the new policy and HAL's prerogative to do, I suppose they also would have the right to put total strangers together? :eek: I hope your TA will go as high as she has to in order to get this changed immediately, but also to get an explanation of what the heck is going on and how this happened.

 

I am sure this is all a mistake, there is no way they could assign 2 cabins' people into one cabin.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I wonder if it is the TA's doing rather than HAL's? E.g., to sell more cabins.

If HAL overbooks, they offer incentives (for other cruises, not to double up). If one of the cabins was booked for minor children, HAL would inquire/disallow and you could reallocate who's in what cabin.

 

I've never heard of such a thing and would not allow it. It seems totally absurd that this would be done.

I agree and believe your idea that this is the TA's doing could be correct but I see that the OP resides in Australia and there could be a totally different way they do things there :confused: I would certainly hope not. I honestly do not think that HAL would even consider doing this without letting the passengers know. I think the Travel Agent has some explaining to do.

[eh2zed]

It might be the TA but what would possess the TA to do it. I can't think of any reason why? Maybe the TA thought they preferred a single cabin scenario but that seems entirely unlikely.

[SunnyinDubai]

This would be highly unusual and inappropriate. Must be their mistake. And with two separate booking numbers how would they know you were sailing together anyway. Other than a note on the file for dining reservations. But I don't think that would cause it. et your TA to correct it. Let us know

 

Bookings can be linked - which can be arranged by the TA or HAL - our bookings for have always been linked as we book 2 cabins for the 4 of us.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

It might be the TA but what would possess the TA to do it. I can't think of any reason why? Maybe the TA thought they preferred a single cabin scenario but that seems entirely unlikely.

While it is very rare I have seen cases when cruise lines (mostly Princess but HAL also does this) have over sold a category and if they see that they have two bookings linked they may would contacted the TA to see if their client would like to move to one cabin. In doing so they most likely guaranteed the TA the commission from both cabins and paid a bonus to the TA for doing this. There is probably also ship board credit involved for the one cabin and of course credit back for the cabin they no longer have. I am guessing this TA thought no big deal if they are a family and she pockets the extra money.

[3rdGenCunarder]

While it is very rare I have seen cases when cruise lines (mostly Princess but HAL also does this) have over sold a category and if they see that they have two bookings linked they may would contacted the TA to see if their client would like to move to one cabin. In doing so they most likely guaranteed the TA the commission from both cabins and paid a bonus to the TA for doing this. There is probably also ship board credit involved for the one cabin and of course credit back for the cabin they no longer have. I am guessing this TA thought no big deal if they are a family and she pockets the extra money.

 

This sounds like a possible explanation, and if the TA was offered a bonus, I can see that he/she would benefit. But to make such a change without even contacting the clients is unacceptable. Call them, even try to persuade them, but don't just make the change and assume it will be OK.

 

If my TA were contacted about something like this, she would start negotiating with HAL, not twisting my arm. And she certainly would not accept such a change without my permission. If OP booked directly with HAL, they didn't have a negotiator on their side.

 

Aside from privacy, going from two cabins to a quad, even if the quad is larger, is a change from two bathrooms to one. The quad would have to be a pretty spectacular cabin to make up for the loss of the bathroom.

 

If this question had been posted as a what-if, I'd have said it would never happen. It certainly should not have happened!

[eh2zed]

While it is very rare I have seen cases when cruise lines (mostly Princess but HAL also does this) have over sold a category and if they see that they have two bookings linked they may would contacted the TA to see if their client would like to move to one cabin. In doing so they most likely guaranteed the TA the commission from both cabins and paid a bonus to the TA for doing this. There is probably also ship board credit involved for the one cabin and of course credit back for the cabin they no longer have. I am guessing this TA thought no big deal if they are a family and she pockets the extra money.

I thought of that Lisa but only if the TA informed the clients. If this is what happened then it would be my lat trip with that TA and I would be going to the boss and demanding it be fixed.

[travelinjones]

I don't believe that HAL did this on purpose. Either it's a mistake, or the travel agent took a "bunk-up" offer from an over-sell situation as Lisa described without talking with the client -- which will cause the agent many issues.

[erewhon]

It is Volendam 5th December this year from Sydney to NZ to Sydney. I have contacted my TA who is looking into it, but no word yet and I thought I would ask around in the meantime.

Cheers

Megan

 

I hope your Travel Agent gets this sorted out very quickly.

 

I hope that you will join our Roll Call for this sailing.

[Yungs]

No news yet - and yes maybe it's because we are in Australia and are second class citizens :( We booked through an American online TA that we have used twice before, with no problems. We always use the address of hubby's hotel (the one he stays at when he goes to LA with work) and Celebrity adn Princess have had no problems with it. Maybe there has been a change to this policy?? Anyhow will sit tight and wait another couple of days. And yes we are two adults and two young children, but had one adult and one child in each booking.

 

Actually I have to confess that this has happened before (and I almost forgot, how could I?) We had two outside cabins beside each other and when we got to the pier, big surprise - our room numbers were different. Turned out they upgraded us to one giant family suite (a full suite!) and it was the most heavenly cruise ever. I don't expect that to ever happen again, as I think we just used up all of our upgrade fairy luck on that one! The cruise must have been oversold and they wanted the two cabins, I suppose. And they never asked us that time. That was Princess.

I dont think that will happen here, as we already got the room allocation and it's another outside. Will let you know what happens. Maybe they didnt like the Aussies trying to book through the US.

[peaches from georgia]

Did you have the same TA the other time on Princess when you were changed from 2 rooms to the large suite and you personally weren't asked for approval?? If so, it sounds like your TA is approving this kind of upgrade. Very unusual 2 different cruiselines would do this without permission from TA or booking pax.

 

If it is your TA this time she screwed up because the "upgrade" is not so good and you're not happy. I'd ask her for the truth. And I wouldn't give her a few days to tell me' exactly what is going on and fix it either.