HAL Cancels All 2020 Alaska, Europe and Canada Sailings

[Boatdrill]

2 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

 

Stop being a banker to the cruise lines who obviously had no cash in reserve for troubles. No contingency, no risk management scenarios. Incompetence.  

Not on my dime.

So you won't be cruising again ?  

[VMax1700]

No one has mentioned a very important piece that is right down at the end..........

 

Please note: Refunds are being processed by sailing date of the cancelled voyages with the earliest departures being refunded first. We ask for your continued patience in affording us the time to work through the refunds properly. Because we are not able to use our usual automated process, our team is manually handling a large volume of requests while working from home. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the link.

 

I am not surprised at this decision.

 

Feel sorry for people who had cruises booked.

[Reagan0712]

Ok, both cruises this year cancelled. Last trip left is rescheduled Iceland trip (from March to September). I’m hoping Iceland reopens in August as they are projecting. 🤞

[jeremystevens]

15 hours ago, Bramcruiser said:

Funny but article only mentioned the FCC and nothing about refunds if people want the cash. Well, we all know the story there as its been a story beaten to death on Cruise Critic. However, I just went into my HAL account on their website and my Norway cruise in July is still a go. So is this a faster release of the news than HAL?

I've actually opted for a refund via the official channels (3rd June departure date) and the cruise is still showing as live on my HAL account, no refund received yet.

[sciencegrrl]

18 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

They do on the HAL website but you have to make that selection by Jun 15th:  

Guests who prefer a 100% refund of monies paid to Holland America Line can visit the Cancellation Preferences form to indicate this preference no later than June 15, 2020. This includes Holland America Line’s Flight Ease air, Cancellation Protection Plan, Holland America Line pre- or post-cruise hotel packages or transfers, prepaid shore excursions and amenities purchased through Holland America Line, and taxes, fees and port expenses.
Please note:

• The above options are not applicable to guests booked on a charter sailing. Other booking and cancellation conditions and policies may apply if the cruise was not booked through Holland America Line.
• The above options do not apply to EURO zone guests notified of a change to their sailing on or after April 14th, 2020. Please refer to the offer detailed in the letter you received.

Thank you for the link.  We were on the August 8th Eurodam cruise.  No email from HAL yet, but I went and submitted our info for a refund.  It appears that you only had to submit it for one passenger because when I went to submit the info for my husband, a box showed up saying that the preference for that booking number had been recorded.

 

Next, to dispute the cc charge.  We are putting in our septic on some property we own and the $ will come in handy.

 

~ Marci

[Vict0riann]

The travel advisory on the HAL website is here:  

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/news/coronavirus-travel-advisory.html

We got the email yesterday cancelling our cruise in August.  I had just a short time before answered an email from our PCC saying we wanted to cancel and transfer the deposit (2 C$100 FCDs) to a similar cruise in 2021.  When I read her the travel advisory info she checked and we decided we would use 2 new FCDs to book the new cruise, and we will receive $400 in a Future Cruise Credit (in 60 days...).  She went to Accounting and they agreed to release the FCC (125% of the cruise price) from our HAL-cancelled April cruise, so she applied that to the new cruise, too, also the OBC of $250 each, $50 from the FCDs and she gave us another $50 each.  The cruise next year has the pre-paid gratuities, drinks package and dine around, so I feel we have done quite well there.  We have not had any refunds yet for our flights, ports fees, etc. from the April cruise HAL cancelled.

Just hope it all works out!

 

 

[bobpatj]

Our fall transatlantic cruise has been cancelled.  Now we have to wonder if our January, 2021 will also be cancelled.   

[kangforpres]

13 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

Sorry Guys, British Columbia reopening. I get a haircut next week, But casinos and pubs closed indefinitely. Still ban on gatherings of more than 50 people. International tourism is out till a vaccine.

 

Stay safe.

 

 

Can I fly to Vancouver to get a haircut? or would I have to wait for 14 days?

 

 

[HappyInVan]

13 minutes ago, kangforpres said:

Can I fly to Vancouver to get a haircut? or would I have to wait for 14 days?

 

 

 

Sorry, mate! Returning BC residents have to  isolate for 14 days, under the Emergency Act. They have to submit a detailed questionnaire about their plans at YVR airport. Those who fail the entry test are offered 14 night stay at a hotel under quarantine.

 

Foreign visitors at this time are not welcome. 

 

BTW, you don't need to travel to BC. San Francisco was the first place in the USA to implement shelter-in-place on March 16. Their deaths just 31. They will reopen soon.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:COVID-19_pandemic_data/United_States/California/San_Francisco_County_medical_cases_chart

 

 

 

 

[Gypsy025]

To all the disappointed couples out there.......This is my second canceled cruise of this year, because of the virus. After my first cancelled cruise I bought, on Ebay, a 4 pound bag of Hershey Kisses and each evening, after dinner, I place 2 Hershey Kisses on my wife's pillow. Not quite as good as on a cruise ship, but believe me it has helped!

 

Ray

[npcl]

10 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

No one has mentioned a very important piece that is right down at the end..........

 

Please note: Refunds are being processed by sailing date of the cancelled voyages with the earliest departures being refunded first. We ask for your continued patience in affording us the time to work through the refunds properly. Because we are not able to use our usual automated process, our team is manually handling a large volume of requests while working from home. 

Then why haven't those with early March cruises (the earliest canceled) not seeing their refunds?

[Flying-Dragon]

22 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

I am sorry to all in this time of crisis. So now 125% FCC no refund.  I have 125% FCC and refund from our Rotterdam 3/11-3/15 cruise. Is that because we were on the ship at the time and was flown home on the 15?. So sad. I hope all receive everything! PS I also am still waiting. It will be 2 months on the 15th. My PCC said she hopes it is soon! Will see

Denise😊

 

Several people have mentioned this - the bottom sentence on the announcement mentions cash refunds.

[Flying-Dragon]

6 hours ago, jeremystevens said:

I've actually opted for a refund via the official channels (3rd June departure date) and the cruise is still showing as live on my HAL account, no refund received yet.

 

Same here for our April and May cruises.  They appear to be letting the booking automatically drop off after sailing date, probably to save the extra work of going in and removing it from our individual accounts online.

[Machta]

1 hour ago, Gypsy025 said:

To all the disappointed couples out there.......This is my second canceled cruise of this year, because of the virus. After my first cancelled cruise I bought, on Ebay, a 4 pound bag of Hershey Kisses and each evening, after dinner, I place 2 Hershey Kisses on my wife's pillow. Not quite as good as on a cruise ship, but believe me it has helped!

 

Ray

 

 

That's so sweet!  Your wife is a lucky lady!

[Mandalay1903]

50 minutes ago, Flying-Dragon said:

 

Same here for our April and May cruises.  They appear to be letting the booking automatically drop off after sailing date, probably to save the extra work of going in and removing it from our individual accounts online.

Yes, that is what happened for our two cancelled March 2020 China/Taiwan/Japan cruises on the Westerdam. The cruises continued to appear in our online HAL account until the departure date, and then they dropped off. I found that was handy so that I could go back into the booking to confirm the excursions and other items I'd booked, and to verify that the refund was fully and accurately completed.

Edited May 7, 2020 by Mandalay1903
Elaborated a little...

[Primus]

 

On 5/6/2020 at 6:05 PM, Primus said:

This is now my fourth cruise canceled.  Does anyone know if the FCC can be applied to a 2021 cruise currently booked or does it only apply to new bookings made after today?

 

I am pleased to report that I was successful in both getting through to a Big Box Store agent yesterday and supposedly getting my pending double deposit value FCC associated with an October 2020 cancelled cruise applied to an April 2021 cruise that I had booked in December 2019.  There was no need to cancel and rebook the same cruise and lose prior promotions.  The agent did seem surprised that my request was approved so results may vary.   I figured it didn't hurt to ask.

[marianoam]

On 5/7/2020 at 4:09 PM, Flying-Dragon said:

 

Several people have mentioned this - the bottom sentence on the announcement mentions cash refunds.

 

And what about the OBC of $250 pp they were offering in previous cancellations?

It seems this new batch of cancellations doesn't include the OBC. It's just 125% FCC...

[YXU AC*SE]

2 minutes ago, marianoam said:

And what about the OBC of $250 pp they were offering in previous cancellations?

 

 

Gone.     Scott. 

 

Source: https://gohal.com/app/uploads/2020/05/Cruise_Cancellation_Commission_Protection_Reference-Grid_050620_3_Final.pdf

[Flying-Dragon]

1 hour ago, marianoam said:

 

And what about the OBC of $250 pp they were offering in previous cancellations?

It seems this new batch of cancellations doesn't include the OBC. It's just 125% FCC...

 

That is an interesting point.  I guess they are reducing their future cost for the latest cancellations.  My cruises were in the end-March announcement, and since I didn't care for the FCC idea anyway, I went for the cash refund.  The bird in the hand in times like these is safer, in my view.  Having then done a Visa charge-back, I got the deposits for both cruises back from HAL, and the final payments are temporary credits from Visa pending HAL handing over the cash.

[sciencegrrl]

On 5/7/2020 at 8:01 AM, sciencegrrl said:

Thank you for the link.  We were on the August 8th Eurodam cruise.  No email from HAL yet, but I went and submitted our info for a refund.  It appears that you only had to submit it for one passenger because when I went to submit the info for my husband, a box showed up saying that the preference for that booking number had been recorded.

 

Next, to dispute the cc charge.  We are putting in our septic on some property we own and the $ will come in handy.

 

~ Marci

Update: We received the credit for the drink package and pre-paid gratuities on the credit card yesterday.  Hooray.  I also disputed the charge for the cruise and travel insurance and received the conditional credit.  Hope everyone else is working their way through this mess.  

 

~ Marci