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ROTTERDAM Update for Nov 3-10, 2021

boze9999

By boze9999,
in Holland America Line

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boze9999

boze9999

Posted
Posted

 

For those booked on the Rotterdam once she gets to FLL, this is Hot off the HAL press affecting The 4-day and 3-day and 7-day cruises from Nov 3-10 - now changed due to C-19 regulations:

 

Dear Valued Guest, 

 

We are writing to advise you of some changes to our deployment schedule that affect your 4-Day Caribbean voyage on board Rotterdam(booking #-----). 

 

Your voyage will now be a 5-day cruise, and will begin on Friday, November 5, 2021 rather than Wednesday, November 3. This change is due to mandatory COVID testing and safety inspection requirements for ships carrying passengers who are returning to the United States from international destinations, which must take place before the beginning of the cruise and in order to obtain necessary permissions to embark guests in the U.S.

 

You will be automatically rebooked on the 5-day cruise at a special rate and we will recalculate Cancellation Protection Plan Standard or Platinum and Taxes, Fees and Port Expenses based on the updated booking. Guests with Holland America Line's Flight Ease air will have their flights automatically rebooked based on the new sailing date. Any refund resulting from this recalculation will be posted to the original form of payment.

 

While we will no longer call to Key West, Florida, as they are not allowing cruise ships at this time, we have added a port call to Bimini, Bahamas, as well as an additional day at Half Moon Cay, giving you two full days at our award winning private island. Your updated itinerary will be as follows: 

 

Date

Destination

Arrive

Depart

Friday, November 5

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, USA

 

5:00 PM

Saturday, November 6 

Bimini, Bahamas

7:00 AM

5:00 PM

Sunday, November 7 

At sea (Caribbean Sea)

 

 

Monday, November 8 

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas)

7:00AM

5:00PM

Tuesday, November 9 

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas)

7:00AM

3:00PM

Wednesday, November 10 

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, USA

7:00 AM

 

 

We will be transferring Half Moon Cay pre-paid shore excursions automatically to your new booking. Key West booked excursions, non-cruise-fare purchases through Holland America Line, such as dining, gifts and spa will be refunded to the original form of purchase. Shore Excursions for Bimini, Bahamas are being finalized and available for booking in the next 10-14 days.

 

If any portion of your travel was not booked through Holland America Line, other booking conditions and policies may apply when making changes. Most airlines and other travel-related services such as hotels, transportation, and tours are allowing refunds or waiving change fees due to COVID-19; please work directly with your travel advisor and those operators regarding their charges.

 

We recognize that this change may cause you to incur unexpected expenses, such as air change fees. Reimbursement of reasonable non-refundable expenses will be considered on a case-by-case basis. An Out-of-Pocket Expense Reimbursement Form is available at https://*****/HAL_CHGFEE; please complete this form and submit it, along with any relevant receipts and documentation, for review by our corporate office. If you purchased independent vacation travel insurance, please submit a claim through your carrier before submitting a reimbursement request for denied or partially paid claims.

 

If you elect to cancel this booking, we will refund all funds paid to Holland America Line in full. Please click here to let us know whether you would like to accept this booking no later than October 30, 2021.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding.

 

You or your travel advisor will receive an updated Booking Confirmation shortly. Should you have any questions, please contact your travel advisor or reach out to us at the appropriate office:

 

 
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Loggra

Loggra

Posted
Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, boze9999 said:

The letter says: "You will be automatically rebooked on the 5-day cruise at a special rate" - but maybe that doesn't count for new bookings..... 

I am sorry, but I doubt it would count. My TA called and found out the rate will be the same as the 4 day was for those of us booked already. I am so beyond excited to go. 

 

Edited by Loggra
Miss spelling
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NCTribeFan

NCTribeFan

Posted
Posted

Not surprising.  I'm on the first Eurodam sailing after her TA and our departure has been set back two days. We had 2 port stops chopped from the middle of our sailing (Aruba and Curacao).  No substitutions.  They had our itinerary listed incorrectly for about 2 weeks.  I finally emailed my PCC and told him they needed to get it corrected since some of us wanted to book specialty dining and spa appointments.  I didn't want to risk boarding and finding out they had me scheduled for the wrong days.

 

Be sure to check the itinerary to confirm they have the days in the correct order.  It was wrong on both the website and app.  I made final payment shortly after receiving the announcement and the updated confirmation had the wrong itinerary as well.  But, it's finally corrected.

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Caribbean Chris

Caribbean Chris

Posted
Posted
On 9/29/2021 at 6:30 PM, newtocruiseinblue said:

I would actually like to get on this cruise. Bimini looks like a cool port. They no longer list this cruise on the site. Maybe it will reappear again tomorrow. Need to get away!


We finally got the email from HAL Thursday night advising of the change (which we had learned about from Cruise Critic). I’m looking forward to just getting away, having the unexpected extra night on the new Rotterdam, and visiting Bimini, a new port for us.
 

I suspect it may be a while, if ever, before HAL opens it to new bookings since they are consolidating a previously-planned 4-day cruise with a 3-day cruise. No way for us, of course, to know how many were booked on either cruise. It was also sold as a B to B 7-day cruise.
 

We called HAL yesterday and asked if our stateroom would be the same, and the answer was “If not the same, very close.” Our TA told us it could take “a few weeks” to sort it all out and send our new confirmation.

 

My guess is if they have any rooms left, they’ll want to host at least some media & TA people as well since it’s the inaugural US departure.

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southsidepride

southsidepride

Posted
Posted

Hello,

My in-laws (83 & 75) are on this cancelled cruise after the TA. (HAL rebooked them on the TA/4-day after a European cruise they had scheduled in August was canceled.) Now they have to spend 2 unexpected days in Ft. Lauderdale. The many changes and the added expenses are becoming pretty stressful for them so I’m trying to help. I’ve been on hold with HAL’s for over 90 minutes as I type this. Does anyone know if HAL will cover the hotel expenses for the people who were supposed to be b2b or do anything else for those impacted by the 2-night layover on Florida? Any insight would be much appreciated.

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RGEDad

RGEDad

Posted
Posted
On 10/2/2021 at 3:50 PM, southsidepride said:

Does anyone know if HAL will cover the hotel expenses for the people who were supposed to be b2b or do anything else for those impacted by the 2-night layover on Florida? Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

Hmmmm : the email had the following...

 

On 9/29/2021 at 12:59 PM, boze9999 said:

We recognize that this change may cause you to incur unexpected expenses, such as air change fees. Reimbursement of reasonable non-refundable expenses will be considered on a case-by-case basis. An Out-of-Pocket Expense Reimbursement Form is available at https://*****/HAL_CHGFEE; please complete this form and submit it, along with any relevant receipts and documentation, for review by our corporate office.

Might want to submit in for reimbursement

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newtocruiseinblue

newtocruiseinblue

Posted
Posted
On 10/1/2021 at 8:48 AM, Caribbean Chris said:


We finally got the email from HAL Thursday night advising of the change (which we had learned about from Cruise Critic). I’m looking forward to just getting away, having the unexpected extra night on the new Rotterdam, and visiting Bimini, a new port for us.
 

I suspect it may be a while, if ever, before HAL opens it to new bookings since they are consolidating a previously-planned 4-day cruise with a 3-day cruise. No way for us, of course, to know how many were booked on either cruise. It was also sold as a B to B 7-day cruise.
 

We called HAL yesterday and asked if our stateroom would be the same, and the answer was “If not the same, very close.” Our TA told us it could take “a few weeks” to sort it all out and send our new confirmation.

 

My guess is if they have any rooms left, they’ll want to host at least some media & TA people as well since it’s the inaugural US departure.

It is now available to book on the website

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Loggra

Loggra

Posted
Posted

For any of those who have opted to take the 5 day cruise after losing the original 4 or 7 day one, have you gotten your boarding times assigned yet?

 

We opted to take the 5 day and have had our cruise moved over to a new booking number but our boarding passes say boarding time to be assigned. 

 

Our original boarding time was 1:00 pm, making our luggage tags yellow. I don't know if those are still valid to use or will they change...just curious, not concerned. 

 

 

 

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shipshapegirl

shipshapegirl

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, Loggra said:

For any of those who have opted to take the 5 day cruise after losing the original 4 or 7 day one, have you gotten your boarding times assigned yet?

 

We opted to take the 5 day and have had our cruise moved over to a new booking number but our boarding passes say boarding time to be assigned. 

 

Our original boarding time was 1:00 pm, making our luggage tags yellow. I don't know if those are still valid to use or will they change...just curious, not concerned. 

 

 

 

We will be on the 5 day with you.  We have received our new boarding passes along with the luggage tags.  However, our boarding passes also say boarding time to be assigned.  Our original boarding time was 1:00, I hope that does stay the same.

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Loggra

Loggra

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, shipshapegirl said:

We will be on the 5 day with you.  We have received our new boarding passes along with the luggage tags.  However, our boarding passes also say boarding time to be assigned.  Our original boarding time was 1:00, I hope that does stay the same.

Ours was also at 1. I would love that to stay the same also! 

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