HAL customer service

[grammi]

I'll start by saying I'm frustrated so I apologize if I come off as whiney.  I was a travel agent for 23 years and retired in 2005.  I've booked and taken a lot of cruises, long before there were computers.  3 years ago I booked an Alaskan cruise tour for 3 couples including myself.  Things were peachy, booked it on line but when working with phone reps they were very knowledgeable and I didn't wait long.

 

Move forward 3 years, 3 cancels and rebooks(Covid)  and I have a few questions for customer service.  On hold for 45min to an hour no matter what time I call, agent seems to work in a different industry, knows nothing about cruising or details regarding an Alaska Cruise tour.  On the 4th attempt waiting the 45 minutes plus each time and having inexperienced agents I finally get an agent who is knowledgeable and can answer my questions.

 

Is this just the way it is now? 

 

Anyway, I'm very excited to probably be going in August, fingers crossed and I want to thank everyone for all your reports and info from those that departed and toured in May.  You have been a huge help.  

[Guest ldtr]

25 minutes ago, grammi said:

I'll start by saying I'm frustrated so I apologize if I come off as whiney.  I was a travel agent for 23 years and retired in 2005.  I've booked and taken a lot of cruises, long before there were computers.  3 years ago I booked an Alaskan cruise tour for 3 couples including myself.  Things were peachy, booked it on line but when working with phone reps they were very knowledgeable and I didn't wait long.

 

Move forward 3 years, 3 cancels and rebooks(Covid)  and I have a few questions for customer service.  On hold for 45min to an hour no matter what time I call, agent seems to work in a different industry, knows nothing about cruising or details regarding an Alaska Cruise tour.  On the 4th attempt waiting the 45 minutes plus each time and having inexperienced agents I finally get an agent who is knowledgeable and can answer my questions.

 

Is this just the way it is now? 

 

Anyway, I'm very excited to probably be going in August, fingers crossed and I want to thank everyone for all your reports and info from those that departed and toured in May.  You have been a huge help.  

Pretty much.

 

Not just with cruise lines.  Pretty much the entire travel industry laid off many of their knowledgeable employees during the pandemic.  When it cam time to start expanding their staffs again they chose to not bring back the long term more expensive experienced former employees, but went the less expensive new hire route.  Add that many are still working from home and the result is what you are seeing.

[grammi]

3 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Pretty much.

 

Not just with cruise lines.  Pretty much the entire travel industry laid off many of their knowledgeable employees during the pandemic.  When it cam time to start expanding their staffs again they chose to not bring back the long term more expensive experienced former employees, but went the less expensive new hire route.  Add that many are still working from home and the result is what you are seeing.

I just kept thinking what are other people doing who new to this whole thing.  

[Tracey/Thom]

Agree, the customer service on the phone has taken forever and a day, and the folks I talked to, prior to our cruise in May, were trying their hardest, but there is just not enough staff - methinks this is a general problem that will go on for at least another year. Staff shortages, shrinking wages, it's just a thing right now.

[kentuckycruiser]

We have done two cruises in the last six weeks (on one right now). The lines at guest services are always so long. I feel like we can't get answers before the cruise so we are stuck asking once on board. The other issue, the staff on board the ship are very new and even the young people working the front desk are unsure and there is a really hard time with the language barrier. I'm mid 50's so I have most of my hearing intact and I am an experienced traveler, but I cannot imagine the issues the senior citizens are having trying to understand what the girls at the front desk are actually saying. 

[Tracey/Thom]

30 minutes ago, kentuckycruiser said:

We have done two cruises in the last six weeks (on one right now). The lines at guest services are always so long. I feel like we can't get answers before the cruise so we are stuck asking once on board. The other issue, the staff on board the ship are very new and even the young people working the front desk are unsure and there is a really hard time with the language barrier. I'm mid 50's so I have most of my hearing intact and I am an experienced traveler, but I cannot imagine the issues the senior citizens are having trying to understand what the girls at the front desk are actually saying. 

We tried to do as much as possible online before we left home, that was a Godsend! Our cruise (just returned 5/15/22)  didn't have any particularly long lines at guest services, but the ship did appear to be sailing at 50% capacity. We didn't really have a problem with the language barrier, as the staff we dealt with seemed to speak cruise English well enough.  But all the staff were wearing masks (we were too, but most passengers were not), so that made them a little hard to hear.  Challenges abound, we were just ecstatic to be cruising again!

[grammi]

2 hours ago, kentuckycruiser said:

We have done two cruises in the last six weeks (on one right now). The lines at guest services are always so long. I feel like we can't get answers before the cruise so we are stuck asking once on board. The other issue, the staff on board the ship are very new and even the young people working the front desk are unsure and there is a really hard time with the language barrier. I'm mid 50's so I have most of my hearing intact and I am an experienced traveler, but I cannot imagine the issues the senior citizens are having trying to understand what the girls at the front desk are actually saying. 

Me either.  I keep thinking if others can get through this so can I.

[MAVIP]

10 hours ago, ldtr said:

Not just with cruise lines.  Pretty much the entire travel industry laid off many of their knowledgeable employees during the pandemic.  When it cam time to start expanding their staffs again they chose to not bring back the long term more expensive experienced former employees, but went the less expensive new hire route.  Add that many are still working from home and the result is what you are seeing.

And not just the cruise lines and travel industry; my experience the last months: what is the reason that suddenly I have to call all those customer services of different shops/industries/delivery services etc. I think your conclusion is the right one and if you live in the USA: the problem does not exist only in your country......

[Mary229]

It is bad. I think with all the new hires HAL really needs to do an “Elon Musk” and bring everyone back to the office.  It is not only the long waits it is the misinformation which sends you back into the wait zone.  
 

flight Ease is a whole different issue.  They do need more people but they are fighting the massive tidal wave of airline cancellations and constant changes.   It is discouraging for the consumer.  

[Guest ldtr]

I do not expect things to change in the near future.  While the new hires might get more experienced, turn over and under staffing will keep in somewhat problematic.

 

According to an article on Motley Fool, none of the big three (RCL, NCLH, CCL) holding companies are not making enough profit to even cover their debt load.  With interests going up and the debt market tightening the cruise lines are not going to have an easy time of it. So staffing is going to remain tight for a while.

Edited June 3, 2022 by ldtr

[ontheweb]

1 minute ago, ldtr said:

I do not expect things to change in the near future.  While the new hires might get more experienced, turn over and under staffing will keep in somewhat problematic.

 

According to an article on Motley Fool, none of the big three (RCL, NCLH, CCL) holding companies are not making enough profit to even cover their debt load.  With interests going up and the debt market tightening the cruise lines are not going to have an easy time of it. So staffing is going to remain tight for a while.

They end up with a terrible choice. They as you said cannot afford the staff, but bad customer service especially in the competitive travel industry can lead to loss of sales.

[Guest ldtr]

1 minute ago, ontheweb said:

They end up with a terrible choice. They as you said cannot afford the staff, but bad customer service especially in the competitive travel industry can lead to loss of sales.

The cruise lines are in a rough position.  Not surprising some senior management have chosen to retire recently. They are in a competitive industry that historically has had limited pricing power.  They had to take on massive amounts of debt, as well as dilute their stock. If they tighten restrictions to limit cases on board their alienate some of their passengers, if cases get too high, they alienate others.  So will just not cruise in either case do to the potential for problems during travel.  Combine that with the need to keep costs down, while still staffing to try and provide the services that people were used to pre-covid and you have a very difficult situation for the industry.

 

The lack of customer service, the tendency for the cruise lines to change policies concerning testing (basically putting more and more responsibility on the passenger to solve their own problems), the reduction in the quality of some on  board experiences does not help matters.  As the occupancy rates climb on the ships the staffing issues impact on quality of the ship board experience become even more noticeable.

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, ldtr said:

The cruise lines are in a rough position.  Not surprising some senior management have chosen to retire recently. They are in a competitive industry that historically has had limited pricing power.  They had to take on massive amounts of debt, as well as dilute their stock. If they tighten restrictions to limit cases on board their alienate some of their passengers, if cases get too high, they alienate others.  So will just not cruise in either case do to the potential for problems during travel.  Combine that with the need to keep costs down, while still staffing to try and provide the services that people were used to pre-covid and you have a very difficult situation for the industry.

 

The lack of customer service, the tendency for the cruise lines to change policies concerning testing (basically putting more and more responsibility on the passenger to solve their own problems), the reduction in the quality of some on  board experiences does not help matters.  As the occupancy rates climb on the ships the staffing issues impact on quality of the ship board experience become even more noticeable.

Yes, you have said that with much more detail than I did in the post you replied to.

 

They truly are in a very difficult poistion.

[Boatdrill]

A side note...if the US government would lift the negative COVID  test requirement to enter the US,

that would help bookings.  

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Boatdrill said:

A side note...if the US government would lift the negative COVID  test requirement to enter the US,

that would help bookings.  

Would it really impact that much.

 

Those that are concerned about testing to fly home, are probably also concerned about flying internationally and then testing positive prior to boarding the cruise.  So while it might help some, probably not that much when it comes to cruises starting in a foreign country.

 

For those departing and returning to the US no impact.

 

For those starting in a foreign country and returning to the US no impact.

 

About the only area where it would have major impact is cruises starting in the US, but then ending in a foreign country.  For those cruises it would one more piece of mind.

 

However keep in mind that if one tests positive on board many countries still have quarantine requirements so it does not eliminate the potential of having travel plans go south.

[albingirl]

Even Guest Services onboard tried to reach customer service at Holland America in Seattle when I needed to cancel my next leg of the back to back.  I think I waited at least an hour standing there while they waited for someone to pick up the phone. It was a total drag.  Completely crazy.

[grammi]

4 minutes ago, albingirl said:

Even Guest Services onboard tried to reach customer service at Holland America in Seattle when I needed to cancel my next leg of the back to back.  I think I waited at least an hour standing there while they waited for someone to pick up the phone. It was a total drag.  Completely crazy.

That's what I keep thinking, how can they do business this way.  An hour hold time whenever you call to get someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.  It is a rough situation for all but I don't want to cancel or be cancelled a 4th time.

[albingirl]

2 hours ago, grammi said:

That's what I keep thinking, how can they do business this way.  An hour hold time whenever you call to get someone who doesn't know what they are talking about.  It is a rough situation for all but I don't want to cancel or be cancelled a 4th time.

true, but can you imagine even guest services can't reach the Seattle office?  I would think they'd have a direct line, but they said they don't.  There is something wrong when they can't just cancel my cruise in a direct manner from the ship.  In this day of tech.

[Guest ldtr]

12 minutes ago, albingirl said:

true, but can you imagine even guest services can't reach the Seattle office?  I would think they'd have a direct line, but they said they don't.  There is something wrong when they can't just cancel my cruise in a direct manner from the ship.  In this day of tech.

Did you try going through the future cruise person, they have direct access into the reservation system.

[albingirl]

11 hours ago, ldtr said:

Did you try going through the future cruise person, they have direct access into the reservation system.

Yes, and he said he could do nothing.

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, albingirl said:

Yes, and he said he could do nothing.

That is nuts.  I bet if you wanted to extend your cruise for another week they’d be able to help no problem 🙄.  Trying to get ahold of these people presents another issue because they seems to be busy for the limited hours they work. 

[Hlitner]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

That is nuts.  I bet if you wanted to extend your cruise for another week they’d be able to help no problem 🙄.  Trying to get ahold of these people presents another issue because they seems to be busy for the limited hours they work. 

Even that is questionable.  Last October we cruised for two weeks on the Seabourn Odyssey when the ship was operating at about 25% capacity (because folks were simply not booking trips).  About a week before the end of our cruise we had a chat with the Future Cruise person and offered to stay aboard another week if we could get a decent price.  The future cruise person said he would have to query Seattle but he was optimistic.  Two days later the folks at Seattle came back with an offer which was actually more expensive then we had paid for the original cruises.  We declined the awful offer, went home, and that following cruise had about 100 passengers on a 450 passenger ship.   So I would not bank on HAL, SB or Princess being very helpful for folks that want to extend their bookings.

 

Hank

[TiogaCruiser]

Well, HAL is hiring at home sales agents.

 

https://www.glassdoor.com/job-listing/sales-agent-holland-america-line-holland-america-JV_IC1150505_KO0,32_KE33,48.htm?jl=1007870612499&utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&utm_source=google_jobs_apply&utm_medium=organic

 

https://www.jobilize.com/job/us-wa-seattle-sales-agent-holland-america-line-carnival-cruise-hiring?utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&utm_source=google_jobs_apply&utm_medium=organic
 

https://jobs.carnivalcorp.com/job/seattle/personal-cruise-consultant-holland-america-line/8858/29226153312?utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&utm_source=google_jobs_apply&utm_medium=organic

Edited June 4, 2022 by TiogaCruiser

[Mary229]

@TiogaCruiser  I wonder what flight ease is doing.   They seem to be the greatest source of urgent issues 

[TiogaCruiser]

6 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

@TiogaCruiser  I wonder what flight ease is doing.   They seem to be the greatest source of urgent issues 

I saw a listing for Flight Ease a few days ago, but didn’t see it when I went through quickly just now. It was listed specifically as FE. And it was remote.