HAL Passenger Beware

[KirkNC]

Thank you to all who shared stories of experiences they suffered days before their scheduled cruise. I learned a lesson :). I will not intentionally make a doctor's appointment days prior to any travel I may book Yes, I fully well know no one gets to schedule when to have their heart attack but why go for a voluntary non-emergent medical appointment so close to ttravel? From here forward,, I'll think of it as 'looking for trouble. :eek: Of course if one plans to be away for months, they probably should make that appointment.

 

Really, you would rather go on a cruise then do a routine doctors visit like a mammogram?? Early detection is the reason my wife has a good chance of living a long life. Of course we could have said, the heck with that and just looked at the short term :rolleyes::rolleyes:.

[bennybear]

You are both correct in the distinctions you make between cases. Another distinction that I would make is that Gwendolyn &Vicki, no doubt, will continue to make purchases from the companies that served them well whereas I doubt the OP will ever again use HAL for his cruise needs.

I jumped into this thread because a friend of mine experienced a similar situation. He was a 3 or 4 star Mariner and typically booked suites. A number of years ago we booked adjoining suites for a Caribbean cruise.

3 days before sailing, he had a heart attack and had to cancel. He requested from HAL that the suite be assigned to one of his children which HAL denied. He had declined insurance and wasn't asking for any reimbursement but asked HAL if they could give him a future cruise credit or award him the cruise days to his Mariner account. Again, both requests were denied and that was the last time my friend booked a HAL cruise. I guess HAL believes it makes better business sense to blindly adhere to a contract stipulation than retain highly profitable customers.

As an aside, we met the guests who occupied my friend's adjoining cabin and I explained to them how the cabin became available. They said they were booked in a veranda originally but HAL offered them an "upsell" to upgrade to the suite. So HAL made a double profit on this cabin which, in my mind, borders on breaching the legal principal of "unjust enrichment". To put salt on the wounds and I never told my friend this, the TA sent bon voyage gifts to our cabins in the form of wine and chocolate covered strawberries which the new cabin occupants never offered to return to my friend via us.

 

I think it would be a nice gesture if the mariner Credit was given as there was no refund and as HAL gives mariner credit for spending. It would be a low cost gesture.

 

But I don’t understand why the new occupants would have any obligation to give their Bon voyage gifts from their TA to the original booker.?

[Florida_gal_50]

You are both correct in the distinctions you make between cases. Another distinction that I would make is that Gwendolyn &Vicki, no doubt, will continue to make purchases from the companies that served them well whereas I doubt the OP will ever again use HAL for his cruise needs.

I jumped into this thread because a friend of mine experienced a similar situation. He was a 3 or 4 star Mariner and typically booked suites. A number of years ago we booked adjoining suites for a Caribbean cruise.

3 days before sailing, he had a heart attack and had to cancel. He requested from HAL that the suite be assigned to one of his children which HAL denied. He had declined insurance and wasn't asking for any reimbursement but asked HAL if they could give him a future cruise credit or award him the cruise days to his Mariner account. Again, both requests were denied and that was the last time my friend booked a HAL cruise. I guess HAL believes it makes better business sense to blindly adhere to a contract stipulation than retain highly profitable customers.

As an aside, we met the guests who occupied my friend's adjoining cabin and I explained to them how the cabin became available. They said they were booked in a veranda originally but HAL offered them an "upsell" to upgrade to the suite. So HAL made a double profit on this cabin which, in my mind, borders on breaching the legal principal of "unjust enrichment". To put salt on the wounds and I never told my friend this, the TA sent bon voyage gifts to our cabins in the form of wine and chocolate covered strawberries which the new cabin occupants never offered to return to my friend via us.

So Hal should have left the cabin empty then?

[sail7seas]

Really, you would rather go on a cruise then do a routine doctors visit like a mammogram?? Early detection is the reason my wife has a good chance of living a long life. Of course we could have said, the heck with that and just looked at the short term :rolleyes::rolleyes:.

............. Your sarcasm is noted. .. I wish you and your wife the very best.

 

 

I would rather go for routine scans weeks beforer rather than wait for a few days prior to my travel JMO and MY choice. All should do as they please. Travel dates are picked by us and we can book necessaryy appointments with those dates in nmid. :cool:

Edited November 10, 2017 by sail7seas

[alwaysfrantic]

Seriously, call the number on the back of your credit card.

 

It’s a very sad situation. You may find by calling you at least get the money refunded.

[doublebzz]

 

But I don’t understand why the new occupants would have any obligation to give their Bon voyage gifts from their TA to the original booker.?

 

Sorry I wasn't clear. It was our TA who sent the gifts to my friend and ourselves. It also raises the question of since, I assume, the TA purchased the gifts from HAL, why were they gifts delivered to the cabin after HAL was notified of the cancellation.

[Toofarfromthesea]

We had this occur to us earlier this year and received $6,000 back from our credit card company. Still had a lose but not nearly as bad as it would have been.

 

To the OP, you have my sympathies. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time four days before we were to leave on four months worth of P’dam cruises. Good news is her prognosis is very good, bad news is we did lose about 15% of our deposits and payments. I did not even reach out to HAL because we/I choose to self insure. I hope you find some peace during this awful time for you.

 

Just to clarify, was this a charge back or does your card have a travel protection feature that kicked in?

 

Thanks.

[kazu]

We had this occur to us earlier this year and received $6,000 back from our credit card company. Still had a lose but not nearly as bad as it would have been.

 

To the OP, you have my sympathies. My wife was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time four days before we were to leave on four months worth of P’dam cruises. Good news is her prognosis is very good, bad news is we did lose about 15% of our deposits and payments. I did not even reach out to HAL because we/I choose to self insure. I hope you find some peace during this awful time for you.

 

Oh dear I am sorry to hear this.

 

I am so happy to hear that her prognosis is good.

 

I have been doing Bon Voyages for you two as I did not know that you had cancelled. (I am guessing these are the cruises you are talking about). I am so sorry if I have rubbed salt in your wounds unwittingly. Should I remove any remainder?

 

apologies <|3