HAL Cancelling Noordam Cruises from NYC November 2008 (Merger of Several Threads)

[Frick_&_Frack]

Hammy -

 

Actually, my parents always book direct with HAL and they weren't notified. I had them call their contact at HAL to get the details, which, at first, their planner denied this cancellation was happening. After a few minutes, the planner said, yes, the sailing had been moved.

 

Their own planner didn't even tell them they had a deadline to make a decision by and didn't advise them about the option of best available rate on another ship. I copied the information from here for them to give to their planner.

 

I always touted booking direct with the line as the best way to get information; this time proved me very wrong.

[hammybee]

NCL is out of Manhattan

 

Thanks. I implied NCL/NY and said RCL/Bayone. It was not clear, given my wording.

[hammybee]

Hammy -

 

Actually, my parents always book direct with HAL and they weren't notified. I had them call their contact at HAL to get the details, which, at first, their planner denied this cancellation was happening. After a few minutes, the planner said, yes, the sailing had been moved.

 

Their own planner didn't even tell them they had a deadline to make a decision by and didn't advise them about the option of best available rate on another ship. I copied the information from here for them to give to their planner.

 

I always touted booking direct with the line as the best way to get information; this time proved me very wrong.

 

Wow ! Maybe the HAL Planners should read these boards too. :)

[Frick_&_Frack]

Wow ! Maybe the HAL Planners should read these boards too. :)

 

Actually, my parents (and my) planner *does* read the boards here :eek: I've even given the planner my "handle" so they will know whatever I have to say since I will only tell the truth about any situation.

 

Right now, I'm just a bit unsettled that my parents *still* haven't received notification of the change on the cruise - either via mail or e-mail (to my account). Really strange if you ask me. I would think HAL would want to cover itself by getting the word out to at least the "direct book" crowd. I guess I'll just have to keep monitoring these boards to check if there are changes to this Fall or early Spring when I go :D

 

Yup, a bona fide reason to keep being on CC all day :D

[gizmo]

I have no doubt that there will be some bookings who will not be notified that their cruises have been changed. HAL notifies the agency and then word has to trickle down to the agents, the majority of them part time, at home contractors.

 

I am amazed as to how in the dark so many agents are, relative to their own bookings ( and thus their commissions), regardless of cruise line. And everyone of them blames the cruise line for failure to communicate. It's an easy out for them.

 

Change is very much a part of the travel business. A change in ports, chartering the entire ship out and sometimes revision of entire schedules is not uncommon in this business.

 

And yet, most travel agents are not proactive about staying on top of their bookings. And it seems the larger the agency, the greater the likelihood for something to fall through the cracks.

 

This " no one told me" business gets old, real quick.

 

My TA is not a part timer nor does she work from home. This is a large well known agency.

 

When I called her she looked in her system and it didn't show the change, she then immediatly put me on hold and called Hal. I call that being very pro active. Hal told her there was no change, so what is she supposed to do ? You would think their contacts would have had the information.

 

I had another experience with a cruise being cancelled. Same deal, the TA was not notified. She contacted Hal more than once and kept being told the same thing. No changes.

 

Look at Frick and Frack parents.

 

The problem is not the TA's but Hal.

[FIRELT5]

Sadly, We had 7 Cabins Booked for the 11/08/08 11nt voyage on the Noordam out of NYC. We cancelled all of the Reservations yesterday for this voyage and Booked the NCL Jewel 10 night Canada 10/18/08. We prefer the HAL product however certain members of our family refuse to travel on an airplane :(

[gizmo]

Sorry you are losing your cruise, Gizmo. We priced those 14 day Maasdam cruises and probably will be booking one. The per diem we got is about what we usually pay per diem for that ship. I'd try again. Don't give up your cabin yet; you may find the price will improve with your TA. HAL was newly loading all these prices and who knows but there might be other discounts now loaded. When we first looked at it, only Mariner discounts were available.

 

Our hestitation is that we'll be away from home 17 days which is a little more than I am comfortable about these days. That 14 day itinerary is wonderful but I wish it were 12 days.

 

Thanks. I had to give it up. The TA did apply her discount, and it was still entirely too high. I only had until Oct 12 to decide and I am not going to be available to handle this so it had to be done now.

 

I do suspect the prices will drop at some point.

[WillieF]

Waht would you do if your destination port was changed to a different city without notice? Our Oct 4 2008 sailing was changed from New York to Fort Lauderdale without notice. We don't want to fly after a cruise, so what do you think our options are now?:mad:

 

As it's so far ahead you can cancel and choose another cruise or ship - or as been suggested, take the train, drive or take a bus.

 

Personally I'd think train or bus, assuming you're still scheduled to sail out of NY.

 

Is there some specific reason for your 'no flying' stance?

 

Like Heather, I'm confused!!!!

 

"I'm sorry! I thought she was saying it was originally sailing out of NY and now it's sailing out of FLL .... my mistake! I thought it was the Noordam switch from NY to FLL and just assumed it was a Caribbean cruise ... never should assume!!!!!"

 

I too thought the Caribbean from NY with the return changed to FLL.

[hammybee]

When I called her she looked in her system and it didn't show the change, she then immediatly put me on hold and called Hal. I call that being very pro active. Hal told her there was no change, so what is she supposed to do ? You would think their contacts would have had the information.

 

Look at Frick and Frack parents.

 

The problem is not the TA's but Hal.

 

Looking into one's system is reactive. It assumes the system has been updated. HAL and many of the large online booking engines ceased pricing and booking on the impacted cruises. Some travel agents knew and communicated the changes to their clients who subsequently reported here.

 

The word clearly did not trickle down to all of those on the front line, on both ends.

[mamaofami]

For those of you who are upset that HAL is pulling out of NY: I just spoke to Nancy Katt at guest relations who suggested those of us who are upset with the decision to pull HAL out of NY write to:

Mr. Stein Kruse

300 Elliott Avenue West.

Seattle, WA 98119

 

She said he does read all the mail and if we want to be heard, that is the way to go. I'm hoping that all who are upset about HAL leaving NY will follow through and take a moment to write.

[gizmo]

Looking into one's system is reactive. It assumes the system has been updated. HAL and many of the large online booking engines ceased pricing and booking on the impacted cruises. Some travel agents knew and communicated the changes to their clients who subsequently reported here.

 

The word clearly did not trickle down to all of those on the front line, on both ends.

 

Of course she looked into her system. I would not have expected her to do anything else. When her system did not match what I told her, she called Hal. That is being pro active. She could have ignored me and told me she hasn't been contacted, her system doesn't show it etc.

 

The bottom line is Hal did not give her the correct information when she called.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Waht would you do if your destination port was changed to a different city without notice? Our Oct 4 2008 sailing was changed from New York to Fort Lauderdale without notice.

 

As I was reading the most recent post, I suddenly noticed something I hadn't noticed before ............. the OP says "without notice", but I'm thinking that since HAL let everyone know over a year in advance, wouldn't that be called WITH notice!!!:)

 

Just an observation.:o

[peaches from georgia]

Obviously the first thing any TA would do when getting a call from a client that HAL has changed a cruise is to look at the system and see if changes had been made there. Should she not have looked first and then immediately check with HAL by phone? The TA was taking the initiative at the first sign she had that there was a problem.

 

The real problem is that HAL did not get the changes into their computerized system for all agents on a timely basis and then it turns out even their own Seattle employees didn't know. If anything it was HAL that was not proactive. It's hard to understand the criticism of the TA. If HAL does not inform then how are they to know.

[sail7seas]

The TA reacted/responded in exactly appropriate ways IMO

[Susie51]

"Without notice" caught my immediate attention. I thought if there was no "notice" of the change, how did she find out about it? I didn't even pay attention to the fact the cruise is in 2008. I hope OP posts again to clear up our confusion.

 

As usual, Hammy, you have noticed the details and did some research. Thank you for your posts.

[HeatherInFlorida]

.....................

 

The problem is not the TA's but Hal.

 

...................

The bottom line is Hal did not give her the correct information when she called.

 

Absolutely, positively agree ... one can't possibly argue that the fault lies with anyone but HAL.

 

When HAL made the decision to cancel these cruises, their computer system should have been programmed to notify EVERY SINGLE TA involved and EVERY SINGLE PASSENGER BOOKED directly with HAL. They have the TA notification information in their database.

 

Clearly, from reading this thread, that is not what happened.

 

I have to say that the more I read here about how much falls through the cracks, the misinformation we get when we call HAL depending on which rep we speak to, I become more and more concerned with the business end at HAL HQ. Something is wrong.

 

In this day and age, I'm sorry, but there is absolutely no excuse for such shoddy handling of a mass cancellation like this.

[GayleArc]

Just for your information, we did rebook our 10/18/08 cruise aboard the Noordam from FLL instead of NY. Got it for the same price we paid from NY11 days) which is $430.00 per person cheaper than the 10 dayer we are booked on from FLL, according to the price on the web site. Don't know why FLL would be more expensive, but we did save some money.

[hammybee]

I do not think it practical for any cruise line to call all their travel agents, about anything.

 

HAL ceased pricing and booking the impacted cruises and many online cruise booking engines did likewise- a bookmark, of sorts, pending further information. Given the internet and message boards, word and rumor can and does travel faster than a speeding bullet. And the rest is history. All companies are grappling with dissemenation of information issues, given the internet.

 

I am failing to grasp the urgency that some posters are feeling. The impacted sails are a year or more into the future. Of these, HAL already knows that a high percentage of these bookings would have cancelled anyway, at some future point in time, had they not changed ports. A year is an eternity as it relates to travel.

 

The deadline for OBC gesture is more than 3 weeks into the future and it's likely most passengers will not take advantage of the OBC because they prefer not to fly and/or pay more than they had planned to. The number of bookings HAL can salvage is going to be quite low and I am sure HAL knew this when they made the changes.

[peaches from georgia]

I do not think it practical for any cruise line to call all their travel agents, about anything.

 

 

I don't think anyone was talking about HAL "calling" every TA in the country. Just putting the information into the computer system that TA's have that links them with cruise booking would have told given them the information. And an interoffice memo would have informed their own agents. Even they were saying there was no change.

[hammybee]

Jumping the Gun?

 

The OP of this thread was made aware of the cancellations more than 3 days ago, after he/she tried to book a cruise for 11/08.

 

Is it possible that it was not HAL's intent to announce the change until all their ducks were in order? Is it possible that upon reading it here, those few with actual bookings became anxious and called their travel agents/HAL before the update was announced?

 

In any event, I really do not understand the urgency here or the need to by-pass normal protocols for HAL to communicate directly with consumers.This is not an emergency.

[Frick_&_Frack]

Jumping the Gun?

 

In any event, I really do not understand the urgency here or the need to by-pass normal protocols for HAL to communicate directly with consumers.This is not an emergency.

 

I totally agree that it's definitely not an emergency; however, with the deadline of 10/12 for changes or no chance of an OBC, I would want as much notice as possible to change plans/check extra costs/etc. Especially if people travel, etc. (personal or business) that could knock out several days (or over a week) of time to look into these things and make decisions.

[caviargal]

The Noordam is a beautiful ship and I personally would take the flight rather than change to another ship/line. It all depends on the OPs priorities and ship and cruise line are very important to me, especially on a longer cruise and a TA at that! The Noordam would be ideal for this itinerary IMO.

[magictam]

You could ask yourself exactly why you wanted to take this particular cruise, and is there another one that would serve that purpose.

By this I mean, did you want to sail the Noordam specifically? Or do a trans-At? Or were there particular ports on the itinerary that appealled to you? Something else?

 

 

I was going to try to talk my DH into this cruise this weekend. He works out of town and this isn't something I wanted to discuss on the phone. But now with the change, I not even going to try.

 

It's not about the disembarkation port, it's the itinerary. It was port intensive with Italy and Bahamas I think. Now it's Spain and no Bahamas. Also, this change resulted in a higher price cruise (not counting the airfare) by several hundard dollars.

 

So now I'm looking for something else. Basically what I'm saying if I had booked this cruise, I would be cancelling it.

[Jade13]

I'm just as confused. I assumed knitlady didn't want to fly. Period. So assumed the cruise left from NYC to the Caribbean and back again. But, if she's flying to Europe, I don't see what the problem is just flying from Fort Lauderdale to NY. I'm so confused!:eek:

 

That is what I thought too.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I do not think it practical for any cruise line to call all their travel agents, about anything.

 

..................

 

CALL every TA????? Of course not!!! A very simple tweak of their database would alert all TA's who have clients booked on the cancelled cruises. It's not a difficult task.

 

Whether there is urgency or not, when we book a cruise most of us have put considerable effort into researching that cruise and it's the one we want to take. If that cruise is cancelled NO MATTER HOW FAR IN ADVANCE, then that person DESERVES to be notified ASAP.

 

It is NOT enough that the cruise is cancelled from the booking engines. EVERY SINGLE PASSENGER should be alerted. There is no excuse for anything less.

 

Since HAL demanded a decision be made as soon as 10/12/07, it would appear they certainly did plan to announce the cancellations. As soon as they made this decision, they had to know the uproar it would cause among people hoping to take those cruises.

 

Perhaps someone else suggested HAL notify passengers directly (though I didn't see such a post) ... I certainly didn't. I said passengers should be alerted through their TA's or IN THE CASE OF A DIRECT HAL BOOKING, then HAL should notify those passengers directly.

 

This is simply good business practice and nothing more. It is absolutely beyond my level of rationalization to understand how anyone can stand up for this lack of service on the part of HAL.