Retreat cabin sold out from under me!

[cecilyf]

What the heck? I just got on board Rotterdam, only to find out that the Retreat cabana I reserved (and paid five hundred bucks for) back in June has been assigned to someone else, and there’s nothing available now. That cabana was the primary reason I booked this cruise - I was even offered a free Panama Canal cruise by my cruise specialist, but turned it down because there ware no Retreat spots available (I’m super-pale, and absolutely need shade when I’m outdoors.) So now I’m in a tiny single cabin with no cabana, and I am DISGRUNTLED. The cabana supervisor is apparently going to call me later this afternoon, so stay tuned.

 

Anyway, don’t book an HA cruise assuming that you’re going to actually get the cabana you booked and paid for.

[Mary229]

Also get in touch with your agent and get them working for you. I am sorry that happened. 

[cecilyf]

Thanks, Mary. This is only my second time cruising with them - the first time I came down with covid on day 2 and was confined to my cabin for almost the entire cruise. (I’m beginning to think that HA may be cursed for me…)

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Ever since the shore services team was outsourced late last summer there have been issues. Sorry you got whacked by the outsourcing goblins

[BigMattT]

Yikes! Hope it works out.

[cbr663]

I would be disgruntled also.  Interesting to see how the Cabana Supervisor (is that an officer?) will make this right for you.

[CruiserBruce]

22 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

I would be disgruntled also.  Interesting to see how the Cabana Supervisor (is that an officer?) will make this right for you.

The Beverage Manager is in charge of the Retreat Cabanas.

[cecilyf]

Haven’t heard anything yet, but ’ll let y’all know what happens when I do.

[pelimom]

This exact thing happened to me last year in February.  We had an email and payment confirmation dated October.  The beverage manager was able to free up the Retreat Cabana that is reserved by the Spa for outdoor massages and we were able to use it for the cruise.  Unfortunately the location was on the end near the washrooms, but we were just thrilled to have a Cabana at that point!! 

[regnig]

Fingers crossed for you that they make it right.

[cecilyf]

So I didn’t hear back from anyone yesterday, so I went to Guest Services to explain the situation. Apparently, multiple cabanas were overbooked by the head office (!), so they’re trying to arrange for us unlucky ones to get our money back via refundable OBC, though it’s unlikely to happen until next week. I’ll report back when (if? I’m not entirely confident at this point) the credit arrives in my account.

[Real NHDOC]

13 minutes ago, cecilyf said:

So I didn’t hear back from anyone yesterday, so I went to Guest Services to explain the situation. Apparently, multiple cabanas were overbooked by the head office (!), so they’re trying to arrange for us unlucky ones to get our money back via refundable OBC, though it’s unlikely to happen until next week. I’ll report back when (if? I’m not entirely confident at this point) the credit arrives in my account.

Obviously the very least they can do is refund your money but I would say you’re entitled to some extra onboard credit given the circumstances. There’s really no excuse for them to overbook the retreat cabanas other than simply being careless. 

[regnig]

Agree with Real NHDOC! A simple refund wouldn't make me a happy cruiser. 😕

[mawvkysc]

28 minutes ago, regnig said:

Agree with Real NHDOC! A simple refund wouldn't make me a happy cruiser. 😕

Especially if I had booked a lower level of cabin due to having the retreat in my plans. I’d ask for a spa pass myself!

[Petronillus]

10 minutes ago, mawvkysc said:

Especially if I had booked a lower level of cabin due to having the retreat in my plans. I’d ask for a spa pass myself!

OP has a legitimate grievance and a compelling argument in her favor. As she stated in her original posting, she received a written confirmation of having booked a retreat cabana and relied on that confirmation, to her detriment. in choosing this specific cruise and the specific cabin she selected. An on-board credit is not a true refund, and she deserves at the very minimum a "clean" refund. In addition, she should be entitled to a cabin upgrade at no additional charge. If the ship is fully booked to the gunwales, then should be given a generous credit toward a future cruise.

She and HAL are negotiating and HAL has made an opening gambit. I have no doubt there are a number of remedies HAL is holding in reserve. I earnestly hope that OP will keep us apprised of future steps and let HAL know that she is chronicling the negotiation here on CC.

HAL must put its personnel under strict orders never to admit that anybody in management keeps abreast of what goes on on this board or that anyone with authority to act on HAL's behalf is kept so abreast. The silence is deafening.

[OlsSalt]

A few years back, as best I remember this,  a cabana switching was also reported on a Nieuw Amsterdam cruise - their carefully selected cabana had been switched without their knowledge or agreement.

 

Turned out later, a member of the Dutch Royal family an and I believer ship's god mother(?) was going to be on that same cruise and had requested that previously selected cabana. So deference somewhere inside the HAL food chain was made to accommodate her wishes. This was not known when the CC poster who initially registered her complaint here about the cabana  switch. 

 

However, when the kerfuffle became known to the Royal Family member she very graciously gave up that cabana choice and the original passenger's first choice was restored to her.  We were on the cruise prior to this one and the staff/crew was quite excited by the royal visit, and all reports indicated this was a very beloved member of the Dutch royal family.

 

I got the impression this was an upper management decision and not demanded nor commanded by the royal personage herself. All's well that ended well, but it was a real blow to the original cabana occupant, until this finally settled out. 

[julia]

@OlsSalt I remember that one, and once again (like this current situation) it was poorly handled. 

 

Overbookings happen. Airlines do it routinely, but they lead IMMEDIATELY with favorable compensation for those willing to give up seats.  OP needs to assess her loss and speak to a higher up onboard as soon as possible, and not just settle for a "sorry, here's your money back, enjoy your cruise."

[Fouremco]

What I don't understand with these overbooking situations is why there is no apparent attempt to follow the order in which they were booked. If there are "X" many cabanas, then the first "X" passengers to have booked should get them. 

[cecilyf]

I think they just only have the names on the list they got from the home office, and have no idea that overbooking has happened until people start showing up who aren’t on their list. I feel sorry for the cabana attendants, who inevitably get caught in the middle…

[fox02554]

So as someone with a cabana reserved any suggestions on how to double check ahead of time that we are the only ones booked into our cabana ? obviously the receipt and e-mail confirmation arn't much help if there is an issue 🤷‍♀️

[OlsSalt]

It think there is no real time coordination among the agents taking cabana reservations, being required to go through the guest services department. Were these being handled through a remote call center, since it was separate from the cruise reservation itself?

 

When booking our own "one and done"  cabana, I got different stories from different agents when I was making initial inquiries about a possible reservation. One said only the family cabana was available.Then a later call said there was a regular cabana still available. It was a fast moving front.  I think with cabanas the best rule is pays your money ,and takes your chances - a gamble at best, when trying to pin anything town. 

[POA1]

The cabanas are in an inventory system.

 

That's how you can pick a specific cabana. I booked ours and got a stateside ships services person. I make it a point to call during Monday - Friday business hours.

 

Now, of course, I'll need to confirm my purchase prior to sailing.

[POA1]

FWIW, there's a person who gets CC'd on your cabana purchase receipt. I think it's the ship's coordinator for your vessel. (I could be wrong, but I'm somewhere in the neighborhood of 85% sure.)

 

In days of yore, you did not reserve a specific cabana. (Yore, was 2018 or earlier.) You could reach out to the coordinator for your ship and send in a request for a specific cabana. I always sent in a 1st, 2nd & 3rd choice. We generally got 1 or 2.

 

I always asked nicely and expressed my appreciation for the help. (The Bubble of Awesome is powered by "nice.") After reading this thread, I know what I'm doing Monday morning.

[cecilyf]

One more data point: I was able to pick a specific cabana from the ones that were available when I booked, but nobody else was copied on the email.

[POA1]

8 minutes ago, cecilyf said:

One more data point: I was able to pick a specific cabana from the ones that were available when I booked, but nobody else was copied on the email.

Our cabana receipt from April 2023 - for our December trip, had no CC. The receipt from September 2023 for the April 2024 sailing had a CC. The latter had a different format.