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New Service Charge Change

sunnygidget

By sunnygidget,
in Holland America Line

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adrift@sea

adrift@sea

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the update, it is appreciated. We recently completed online documents and never read any further as we have read and reread documentation so many times. I must admit I had to search for this information but did locate it. We don't have any problem with the increase but it would have been nice to have been notified.

 

From the HAL Site:

 

Beginning with sailings departing after December 2, 2011, the daily Hotel Service Charge for suites is US$12.00 per guest per day, and US$11.50 per guest per day for other staterooms. All sailings departing prior to December 2, 2011, the daily Hotel Service Charge is US$11.00 per guest per day. (The charges are subject to change without notice). Hotel Service Charge will be implemented on ships as per the departures below--

 

Ship/Date Order

Noordam12/02/2011

Oosterdam12/03/2011

Eurodam12/03/2011

Ryndam12/04/2011

Westerdam12/04/2011

Nieuw Amsterdam12/04/2011

Volendam12/05/2011

Amsterdam12/05/2011

Zuiderdam12/05/2011

Veendam12/08/2011

Statendam12/09/2011

Zaandam12/09/2011

Maasdam12/12/2011

Rotterdam12/21/2011

Prinsendam12/21/2011

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taxmantoo

taxmantoo

Posted
Posted
You got me my attention, what is a hotel service charge. Is it the same a prepaid gratuities?

 

HAL never refers to "prepaid gratuities". In essence, the hotel service charge charge is not the same as "prepaid" since it is charged to your onboard account every day. You could consider it prepaid if you bought yourself an equivalent amount of OBC's before boarding.

 

The one advantage to not prepaying is that if you happen to be kicked off the ship for misbehaving or not following the rules, you do not have to pay the daily hotel service charge for the rest of the cruise :D

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Wehwalt

Wehwalt

Posted
Posted
HAL never refers to "prepaid gratuities". In essence, the hotel service charge charge is not the same as "prepaid" since it is charged to your onboard account every day. You could consider it prepaid if you bought yourself an equivalent amount of OBC's before boarding.

 

The one advantage to not prepaying is that if you happen to be kicked off the ship for misbehaving or not following the rules, you do not have to pay the daily hotel service charge for the rest of the cruise :D

 

Boy would I rake HAL over the coals with American Express over THAT charge. I would probably contest the cruise charge in full (I booked only two weeks ago and depart October 29) and wait and see how far HAL wants to take it.

 

Do they kick people off often?

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Lesinindy

Lesinindy

Posted
Posted
Boy would I rake HAL over the coals with American Express over THAT charge. I would probably contest the cruise charge in full (I booked only two weeks ago and depart October 29) and wait and see how far HAL wants to take it.

 

Do they kick people off often?

 

No, but it does happen. Last person I saw kicked off a ship was in Cozumel on CCL. The man had fallen off the fake donkey it Three Amigos (it is hard to fall off a concrete donkey). He was all cut up, could not walk (really drunk) and they denied him boarding. To give you a good idea as to how drunk he was on this same cruise a young lady showed up to the Muster drill so drunk she had to be held up by her friends and also showed up on a string bikini. They kept her on-board. :p

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tangerinebunny

tangerinebunny

Posted
Posted
No, but it does happen. Last person I saw kicked off a ship was in Cozumel on CCL. The man had fallen off the fake donkey it Three Amigos (it is hard to fall off a concrete donkey). He was all cut up, could not walk (really drunk) and they denied him boarding. :p

 

And somewhere on board his stewards were doing the Snoopy dance....

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

Posted
Posted
This is one price increase that I don't mind at all.

 

I totally agree - this is a non issue with me and my dh - we're always happy with the service on HAL and a few cents a day is more than worth it IMO:)

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Pete Jackson

Pete Jackson

Posted
Posted

There is no indication of any change in the option that the passenger can reduce or remove the service charge at the front office. So anybody who feels that they weren't given enough notice of the change for a cruise they have already booked, can presumably reduce it back to the $11 in effect when they booked. It might sound cheesy, but I respect that people may feel that they should have been informed of these changes when they booked and they and HAL mutually committed to a cruise fare.

 

I'm sure that HAL and other cruise lines are having to pay more for crew contracts for people from Indonesia and other developing countries, as their economies are rapidly growing. So we'll presumably see these higher rates both in the brochure fares and in the service charges.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

Posted
Posted
There is no indication of any change in the option that the passenger can reduce or remove the service charge at the front office. So anybody who feels that they weren't given enough notice of the change for a cruise they have already booked, can presumably reduce it back to the $11 in effect when they booked. It might sound cheesy, but I respect that people may feel that they should have been informed of these changes when they booked and they and HAL mutually committed to a cruise fare.

 

I'm sure that HAL and other cruise lines are having to pay more for crew contracts for people from Indonesia and other developing countries, as their economies are rapidly growing. So we'll presumably see these higher rates both in the brochure fares and in the service charges.

 

 

 

:eek: We're talking about $3.50 pp for a seven night cruise. Not exactly a shocking sum. IMO

 

Yes, I get it. It's the 'principle'......... :rolleyes:

 

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ASIWISH

ASIWISH

Posted
Posted
It might sound cheesy, but I respect that people may feel that they should have been informed of these changes when they booked and they and HAL mutually committed to a cruise fare.

 

To me, it sounds EXTREMELY cheesy...! 1.00 per day for the average cabin...? That's about the price of box of Mac and Cheese!!!

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IRL_Joanie

IRL_Joanie

Posted
Posted

HAL has posted for every cruise, for as long as I have been with HAL, and I am sure even as long as most, if not all of you have cruised with them, the following:

 

QUOTE: "*Prices are per person, for cruise or cruisetour only, based on double occupancy. Price reflect best fares available for each stateroom on one date that this itinerary is available, from a snapshot taken in the last 24 hours for staterooms in each category. Changing the dates may change prices. Prices do not include Government Fees and Taxes. Pricing and availability subject to change without notice. For real time pricing and availability please call your travel professional, or call us at 1-877-932-4259 or proceed to booking." UNQUOTE

 

My thoughts are that this includes not only the cost of the cruise, but also any part of the cruise, to include Hotel Service Fees, the cost of Specialty Dining Venues, Bar Prises, etc.

 

Anyone complaining of a miniscule amount such as listed by previous posters should be, in my estimation, ashamed of themselves.

 

Joanie

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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
Posted

Anyone complaining of a miniscule amount such as listed by previous posters should be, in my estimation, ashamed of themselves.

 

Joanie

No kidding. I'm thinking if this is causing such a hardship for some maybe a cruise shouldn't be their first priority:eek::rolleyes:.

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