CruisingFan2019

More frustration (sorry, just need a place to vent!).

A few days ago, I called Hurtigruten and asked to move my deposit from the booked cruise to a different itinerary. I explained my confusion with the website, and there was a lot of back and forth (with the CSR even telling me that I had booked on the wrong part of their own website--I booked on the most intuitive place on their website to book!). She said that moving the deposit wouldn't be possible, and that they would have to cancel the booking out, which would incur a $200 fee. I asked (at least twice) that the fee be waived, again because their website is very misleading regarding the dates of the cruise (they have actually updated the site since speaking with me to make it more clear, so I know they agree that it had the potential to cause confusion). The CSR said she couldn't waive the fee and that she couldn't cancel it over the phone anyway. I asked to speak with a manager, and she said there were no managers available. We ended the call. Note that at no point did I ask that my cruise be canceled regardless of any situation--only with the condition that the fee be waived.

Within five minutes, I got an email from the same CSR stating that, per management's approval, they would be able to cancel the cruise based on our phone call, with no mention of the fee, and that my credit card would be refunded the deposit. Since my only request at canceling involved the fee being waived, I, of course, took this to mean that my request was being granted. The next day, the CSR emailed and said she needed me to reply, requesting that the cruise be canceled. I did so.

Now I got an email confirming that my cruise was canceled, minus the $200 "admin" fee. I am beyond frustrated. All I want to do is change my deposit to a different booking on the same cruise line, 18 months out, because of a misleading piece of information in their booking area. Why are they making this such a terrible process?

We're on Fram in November 2016 and our booking shows the overnight in Buenos Aires and includes the flights. The website doesn't mirror this so it looks like something is changing. In some previous years they have removed the hotel night and then reinstated it for other years. They haven't, though, and as far as I know, done this after the brochure has been published. Perhaps they're experimenting with offering the flights as an option rather than included? Hurtigruten's website has never been one of the better ones (and nowhere near matches the amazing Fram experience) but I'm checking our booking to see what's going on.

It does seem like they're offering it as an add-on for the new itineraries--when I called to verify the dates I was seeing, the CSR told me that the cruise I was getting was a day less because I hadn't chosen to do the Usuaia Arrival Package (because a: it literally isn't an option on the booking page and b: there was no information about it on their site). I have no problem with them removing the transfer, since the itinerary is advertised as Ushuaia to Ushuaia (though it sounds like that's different in your case)--just removing an entire day from a cruise and still advertising the day as included!

That is not the case with Hurtigruten's 2016/2017 itineraries (at least for the Fram). Cruisers are now responsible to get to Ushuaia to board on their own.

For example: The website says, for instance, that a cruise is 16 days from 01/27/2017, with Day One boarding in Ushuaia. But then, for some reason, the cruise (day one) actually starts on 1/28/2017 and is 15 days. I even called customer service to verify that was I was seeing was correct. It is like this with all the 2017 sailings and 2016/2017 sailings, so it is not just an oversight on one itinerary.

It seems that there will now be an optional pre-trip transfer from Buenos Aires that you can add on, but which is not part of the cruise. I guess maybe they were counting the days from that optional pre-trip transfer; but, as it is not part of the baseline cruise itself, that seems very disingenuous to me.

Here is a link to demonstrate the difference.

http://www.hurtigruten.com/us/explorer-voyages/antarctica-fram/voyages/polar-circle-expedition/

As you can see, the 2016 itinerary starts in Buenos Aires and includes a transfer, but the 2017 does not. If you choose the 2017 and go to the "choose your cabin" page, the dates showing at the top are now the correct dates--the ones with one day missing verses what's showing on the information page.

And, if you look closely at the itinerary for 2017, you'll see both that there are only 15 days listed for this "16 day" cruise, and that they explicitly list that flights from Ushuaia are not included (which they don't list on the itinerary for the one I booked--that was a bit of a nasty shock, since I was going by past history that Fram includes transfer from Buenos Aires; however, that one is my fault, because that's something I should have caught instead of assuming. This whole one-less-day-thing though is really pretty clearly deceiving, whether it's meant to be or not).

http://www.hurtigruten.com/us/explorer-voyages/antarctica-fram/voyages/polar-circle-expedition/#itinerary-2017

I've got to admit, I've got a pretty bad first impression of Hurtigruten. I detailed my issues with the availability of information in the Midnatsol to Antarctica thread.

Now (after I've booked!) it turns out that the Fram cruises for 2017 are "secretly" a day shorter than advertised. For example, if advertised as 20 days and starting on 06/09, the cruise is actually 19 days and starts on 06/10. I'm extra annoyed because, had I known this, I might have been able to choose between a few more itineraries.

I've read so many good things about Hurtigruten to Antarctica, and it's the only exploration ship in my price range. I guess I just need to know: is the booking process generally this bad, or do I have bad luck?

Yes, the itineraries will be very different but, concentrating on the Antarctic segment, I have concerns around passengers' expectations and reality.

 

There's already quite a lot of confusion about the Celebrity Infinity Antarctic cruise (absolutely no landings but some passengers don't realise that when they book!) and so I hope the arrangements for Midnatsol's landings are made crystal clear before and during the booking process.

I'll share my experience in trying to figure out which cruise to book.

I went to the Antarctica portion of Hurtigruten's website and checked out the itineraries. Only two would work with my schedule, one on the Fram and the other on the Midnatsol. I liked the itinerary of the Midnatsol better (Chilean fjords as opposed to Ushuaia), and it was a day longer and a little cheaper, which I took to maybe be a "guinea pig" rate for an untested and unreviewed cruise.

Then I read the differences between the two ships' purposes--the Fram was advertised to be more "extreme" than the Midnatsol. I really wanted to just do the "classic" Antarctic: going ashore to see wildlife, zodiac cruises, and kayaking, nothing like skiing on a glacier or, to quote the site, "field landings ashore designed to challenge you mentally and physically". So Midnatsol seemed better in that category as well. However, I was concerned that the site said that the Midnatsol cruise would offer landing opportunities, but didn't seem to offer any more details beyond that (whereas the Fram's page listed potential landing sites in detail).

Doing a little more research, I saw that the Midnatsol is comparatively huge--it takes literally the most passengers a ship can take and still land people. The site didn't give any sort of indication as to how the ship's going to handle all those people; in fact, for a new cruise, it didn't give much of an indication for anything as to what to expect. I then saw quotes from Hurtigruten saying that the Midnatsol was going to be geared towards families (which seems strange in a ship that doesn't even offer double beds until the suite level) and worried that I was going to accidentally end up on the "kiddie ship" to Antarctica.

I tried calling customer service and relayed my concerns about the size of the ship and the lack of information about what to expect for excursions. The CSR I spoke with didn't respond to my concerns about the ship's size (presumably because Hurtigruten hasn't given him any information to respond with), but did offer to email me a list of excursions. I verified twice that he was emailing me the list for Midnatsol, and even clarified "the newer Antarctica ship" and he said yes. When I got to my email, it was the list for Fram.

So, while it seems that the itinerary for Midnatsol is a better fit for me, I'd essentially be signing up for a mystery box of a cruise. Plus, after all that, I noticed that the Fram's potential landings don't look to be that extreme after all. They look like the same places all the expedition ships go.

Basically, this is a long way of saying: I hope Hurtigruten releases way more information soon.