Captain Ricky
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Posts posted by Captain Ricky
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1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:
Thank you for this tip. I have just ordered the book.
If you want the insider story from the other half of the inside read Captain Stephen Corcoran. Steve was the XO on the USCG Cutter Boutwell. He interviewed Coasties, Canadian Forces, US Air Force, Survivors from the ship and the first responders from Sitka, Valdz and Yakutat. Full disclosure, he used some of my interviews from Sitka. He also had access to both the USCG inquiry results and the Dutch Merchant Marine investigation as well as logs, radio logs form tankers etc.
There is a third book "Burning Cold" by H Paul Jeffers. Paul was a CBS reporter covering the story (As I was for Alaska Public Radio and NPR). His book is more in the story telling style, so is a more entertaining read but since he got it out relatively quickly , before the inquiry reports from the USCG and the Dutch, it has some factual errors omissions and misinformation although generally it is a good account.
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15 hours ago, Sir PMP said:
And King John I...
Richard III
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7 minutes ago, Nymich said:
It is kind of unreal when I hear this excuse. They do not have a single Ship in the water. It is not a workload problem.
They have several ships in the water taking staff and crew home. That has to be their first concern, including communicating with staff, staff family, hotels where they are to quarantine etc. I wonder if they are aren't stumbling trying to figure out the message as things keep changing. Their communications with us on the ship was terrible.
BTW, we got credit on our card last week for unspent balance, the un-taken tours, and the unused port fees on the interrupted Amsterdam Grand World. They told us 60 days and they beat that deadline. Now waiting for the refund on the interrupted portion of the cruise. They have a couple of weeks based on their deadline.
They did credit us us with all the 128 days we would have had toward star status on the cruise. Given everything else happening in the world I will give them the benefit of the doubt. Am I completely happy, of course not but not many others on the planet are either.
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12 hours ago, Sir PMP said:
And King John I...
Richard III
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3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:
A slightly OT question -- is there a maritime tradition that a ship's name is not reused if she sank with (or even without) loss of life?
I asked HAL people on Prinsendam and they told me that since there was no loss of life they could reuse the name. It was an amazing story. I covered the story as a reporter in 1980. On the 35th anniversary I attended the Prinsendam Rescue Association reunion at the Seattle Coast Guard base, interviewed people involved and produced a radio documentary about the rescue. If you are interested you can click on the link below.
https://www.kcaw.org/2016/10/11/smoke-on-the-water-the-sinking-of-the-prinsendam/
My question is if they will retire the name Zaandam for a while.
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41 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:
Titanic II? Lusitania II? I think not. Prinsendam III? OK.
Why? Prinsendam I suffered no loss of life. Not so much with Titanic and Lusitania.
I was surprised when Prinsendam resurfaced, so to speak. I was a reporter in SE Alaska and covered that story so when the name was recycled I had to sail on her, and have enjoyed several cruises before she was sold off. OK so Nieuw Titanic, Neiuw Lucy and Prinsendam III.
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On 5/5/2020 at 2:02 PM, Krazy Kruizers said:
HAL may not have the money.
Look at what is happening at NCL.
The financial press says that Carnival Corp owes its customers north of $4 Billion in refunds.
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43 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:
Which HAL ship becomes Queen Juliana? Or Queen Beatrix? Or Queen Maxima?
Queen Anne would have some interesting connotations.
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4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:
And what an opportunity for historic naming, Titanic, Lusitania, Prinsendam! What can go wrong with that. (My grandfather came to the US as a steward on White Star. He was a "White Star Man.")
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I am thinking of upgrading to a balcony, using the FCC form HAL to pay for the difference. Not because of pandemic fear but because I would guess that the cruise lines are going to be stricter about quarantining folks who have coughs or sneezes. On a cruise I inevitably get a cough for part of the trip. If I need to be in my room for a few days I would rather have access to outside and if we are cruising scenic areas, i definitely want to be able to not lose the experience.
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On 4/6/2020 at 3:20 PM, StLouisCruisers said:
I can't read unless I subscribe. Too bad.
I don't subscribe but was able to access it. Try this, different source.
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3 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:
I can't read unless I subscribe. Too bad.
I don't subscribe but was able to access it. Try this, different source.
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This could have some impact on refunds or at least the future stability of HAL. The Saudi's have made a big investment in Carnival.
https://www.ft.com/content/8dd37fe5-64d0-4524-b115-86aa5a6a7bd0
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I said my final cruise blog post would be positive, and it is. I hope you all enjoyed the cruise as much as I did!
https://www.rich.mcclear.net/2020/03/31/around-the-world-in-80-days-a-coda/
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16 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:
I just got on a few seconds ago.
https://book2.hollandamerica.com/cp/
Try this link
Thank you, it worked. I appreciate it.
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Hi again,
When I tried to poen the pictures from the ship that I bought from the photography department the files were corrupted and woiuld not open, I tried several different programs with, essentially the same message. I called HAL and they referred me to their photo company. I called and they told me they would call back, which is better than waiting on hold. Anyone else have this problem? I am wondering if it was a system problem or something on my drive was corrupted.
Thanks,
Rich McClear
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Is anyone else having trouble getting on the website HAL gave us to choose our compensation option? I have been trying for two days on four different computers and 4 different browsers. On my computer I have gotten a message that the site was taking too long to respond. My iPhone refuses to connect me because the site is not a "trusted" site and it is trying to protectme from a scam. Anyone else had problems with this site. I realize it could be because my internet here in Alaska is not very robust. I called the World Cruise Desk and they told me I can't do this on the phone. I am also trying to get my TA involved.
Thanks,
Rich McClear
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This is an interesting listen. It explains the reluctance of the Australians had in letting us off the ship except directly to an airplane. I wrote a brief synopsis of this in my blog when I was in Perth but this gives a much fuller story.
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1 hour ago, Tampa Girl said:
Did HAL rep. tell you it wasn't covered, or did the insurance carrier tell you? The reason I asked is that the HAL reps don't always know what they are talking about. It is the insurance company who is underwriting the policy that has the last say. I once asked a HAL rep if their policy would cover non-refundable deposits in the event of cancellation, and she said it would not. I called the insurance company, and their rep point out that nonrefundable costs were specifically included.
I called Nationwide Insurance (the carrier for the HAL PPP) and the agent told me it was not covered BUT I should still file a claim and the agent sent me a link. So I will file. The link has my booking number on the URL so it will not help you. I would call the number on the policy and get a link to file.
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38 minutes ago, SharonN said:
And here's the Future Cruise Credit letter which states the credit needs to be applied to a booking by Dec 2021 and the cruise does not need to be depart within that timeframe.
Thank you for posting these. I have been going through my stuff, packed in haste, and have not been able to find them. I appreciate this. I have sent it to my TA for future use in bookings. -- Rich
HAL is dirty and crooked
in Holland America Line
Posted
$5K is not token to me. OK, I still want the other roughly $30K that they owe me but it's a good start. I will hold criticism until 60 days has past. Right now I would rather have them use the cash on hand to pay the crew contracts and get them home.