Mandalay1903

12 minutes ago, SteelMagnolia9 said:

I am booked on a 11 night cruise to the S. Caribbean on the Nieuw Statendam departing Nov. 11th. I’m cancelling and having my refundable deposit returned. There is no indication HAL will be sailing by then. Unless there is a compelling reason you have to rebook, I would not give any cruiseline any monies towards a future trip until they are operational.

I agree. I would not give a cruise line (HAL) any "incremental" monies including final payment toward a future trip until the line is satisfactorily operational. But I have deployed my existing FCDs and nonrefundable bonus FCCs toward future cruises and will continue to do so.

2 minutes ago, slidergirl said:

Remember, the first vaccine publicly available may only be 40-50% effective.  Do you want to take a long cruise with  vaccine that is a 50/50 shot at protection?

Agree. Is it also probable that vaccines in general are less effective on patients over a certain age, say 65 and older?  Further compounding the problem.

25 minutes ago, iceman93 said:

What he fails to mention, and this may just be my opinion, is that by discarding their smallest ships HAL seems to be intentionally snubbing their core clientele.  Personally I think they would have better off re-flagging some of the new mega-ships to other brands under the CCL umbrella.  Then they could have focused on exactly the kinds of journeys described in this article, even bragging about how their smaller ships put you in contact with fewer people therefore less COVID-19 risk (which, while not exactly accurate, is no more misleading than anything else we're all being told about the virus).

I can agree with most of your opinion.  I for one feel snubbed by HAL ditching so many of their smaller ships. I've sailed on the Koningsdam twice and found it way too crowded, too impersonal, too few elevators, too difficult to find seating in public areas, lifeboats stowed in the wrong position, too wide for the Panama Canals. And did I mention too crowded?  I can't enjoy the Music Walk venues because you need to show up 45 minutes early to get a seat--and Music Walk is not why I cruise.  I've thought these Pinnacle Class ships have been too big all along.

Unless HAL cruising comes back with the great itineraries that we've known on its remaining small and mid-sized ships, I'll be looking for lines with smaller ships and avoiding anything north of Eurodam size. Yes, I understand the revenue/cost formula and the larger new ships' efficiency. While I've been very loyal to HAL, unless I can find great itineraries I will look at different lines even if they're more pricey.

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

We, Americans:  Europe does not want us.  Australia and New Zealand don't want us.  The Bahamas don't want us.  Canada does not want us.  Whoever else, I don't know.

 

How are you enjoying being persona non grata?

I agree. I don't think the Americans want each other either, why should anyone else?

We've had 8 HAL cruises canceled from March 2020 through August 2021 for a total of 118 days. We have two more still on the books with HAL for May/June 2021 in the eastern Med, but I give them a 25% shot at happening because it has a lot of port days and covers a number of countries. I don't think Europe and the Mid East (ALL of the countries involved) will be allowing multiple stop cruising that by that time, especially for US residents.  I don't see us being on a ship until 1/2022 at the earliest. Meantime, it's going to be land travel by car.

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

The problem with the organ was and still continues to this day, it only plays at certain times.  Those times are not publicized to the guests.  Have no idea why.  When one is in the Atrium and the Organ starts to play:  it is neat!

The organ playing times were clearly publicized to guests on my 11/2019 sailing on the Zaandam. It's a nice but dated feature. Nevertheless, I so much prefer the Zaandam to the crowded, impersonal Koningsdam.

5 hours ago, kazu said:

Most HAL cruisers I have met aren’t interested in a cruise like that.  Many are itinerary driven and prefer at least a 7 day cruise if not a longer one.

I agree with these points, and I understand that they're different than the Points Guy's points...especially for the longer term Mariners.  As for me, I've reached my limit on Alaska cruises, Mexican Riviera, and Caribbean. I'd take a couple of the shorter HAL Canada cruises but after that I need the longer, much more varied itineraries. I'm looking for cruises that can take me to places that are more difficult to manage independently (the two Westerdam China/Taiwan/Japan cruises cancelled on me this March are great examples). I'm a fan of HAL because of the variety in their itineraries and the consistent quality in their product throughout the world. Until they're back with the great itineraries, I'll be taking more overseas land trips by car to cover the areas the cruise ships can't.

HAL will probably have a slower restart, but meantime I'll be looking to travel independently when the other countries will have us and our borders reopen.

6 hours ago, Indianadaytripper said:

I’ve found the Holland America website to be one of worst I’ve ever used. Anyone else have problems 

Yep. I use Firefox exclusively. Sometimes the HAL site works fine, usually it's really challenged in places. The design is pretty poor. It's a regular complaint on my HAL cruise reviews (remember those?).

I'll take a stab at it for you.

I think the way it works is that you can use your minimum required deposit funds (doubled in value) from your cancelled cruise as deposits to book a new cruise. You can apply additional amounts paid (in excess of your required deposit funds) from that cancelled cruise to a existing or a new cruise on a dollar for dollar basis, but not as deposits.

This is confusing, but I think what they're trying to do is let you use your deposit money from a cancelled cruise as a deposit, doubled in value, for booking a new cruise.

Amounts paid in excess of the deposit amount are not doubled in value and are not usable as deposits. If you paid these in cash you could get a refund instead (eventually), or have them applied to your Mariner account as a Future Cruise Credit to be applied as payment on another cruise, but not usable as a deposit.

16 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

We share this position, as others do. Good money after bad syndrome.

I agree with this comment at this time. I don't want to add any more money into the pot at this time.  I'll continue to book cruises with existing FCD and FCC funds, though.

Regarding the OPs concern, we had an August 2020 Rotterdam cruise cancelled on the May 6th tranche of cancellations. We originally used FCDs and also applied some FCCs when we booked that cruise. The cancellation terms (per Orlando Ashford's email on May 6th) were exactly the same as the terms received on yesterday's tranche of cancellations.

We were able to use our FCD deposit funds (doubled in value) from our cancelled cruise as deposits to book a new cruise in January 2022 on Westerdam. We were able to apply the FCCs (amounts in excess of our required deposit funds) from that cancelled cruise to a existing or a new cruise on a dollar for dollar basis, but not as deposits.

This is confusing, but I think what they're trying to do is let you use your deposit money from a cancelled cruise as a deposit, doubled in value, for booking a new cruise.

Amounts paid or FCCs applied in excess of the deposit amount are not doubled in value and are not usable as deposits. If you paid these in cash you could get a refund instead (eventually).

...Hope I got that right. This was done through my PCC.

Well there you have it...  Scratch 20 days on the Maasdam and 28 days on the Veendam for us in the coming year.

Thank YXU so much for posting the link.

6 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

Oh, there shall be rending of garments and gnashing of teeth I fear. 

There undoubtedly will be. Amsterdam and Rotterdam are also reported as being on their way toward Suez per Vesselfinder.com

10 minutes ago, Mary Ellen said:

The Maasdam and Veendam were built earlier than this press release of the sale indicates. While the ships aren’t named, the tonnage and year built are given.

 

https://www.bonheur.no/latest-news1?SelectedRelease=http://publish.ne.cision.com/Release/GetDetail/7CDB812CA7F9D5C5

Thanks for linking to this news release. It also states, "Delivery is expected to take place in the UK during September 2020."

38 minutes ago, dmcfad2 said:

That’s great!

I guess we're the lucky ones. I'm sorry to read about all the others on this post who have struggled.

33 minutes ago, summer slope said:

We have a Veendam cruise booked for January 2021.  If she is sold what will HAL do about those of use booked?

Ditto ugh.  We have two Veendams and one Maasdam booked in the next 12 months.  My expectation is that if these sales materialize they'll just cancel the cruises as part of the next Covid-related tranche of cancellations.

Between us we'd have two pair!

Early last week I received $400 of FCCs from my cancelled 8/2020 cruise. These had been converted from FCDs and the amount doubled based on the HAL offer I accepted after the May 6th cancellation. HAL apparently accepted these FCCs as part of the $600 deposit for a new cruise I booked for 1/2022. I also applied $200 of fresh FCDs for this deposit. My PCC was as surprised as I was that this worked (so far).

Yesterday HAL released to my account additional FCCs which had been used as partial payment for this 8/2020 cruise. I never made full payment on the 8/2020 cruise, so there was no refund due and that cruise has now been fully canceled and removed from my account.  I had my PCC apply these FCCs to a future cruise I have booked for 5/2021. 

I've had five cruises canceled since 2/2020 and all moneys paid have been refunded, and FCCs released and reapplied elsewhere.  Given what's happened in the company and the industry (including my PCC's temporary personal leave of absence), I'm very happy that all of this was handled very accurately and pretty promptly.

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Hopefully we can all stay connected and share info. 

Totally agree, and I really don't think that HAL is "out to get us". This is a very good topic with good information shared.  I hope we can stay connected and monitor any changes for the Westerdam and for this cruise.  Most importantly, I hope that by January 2022 we can all get back to cruising the way we once knew.

27 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

If this turns out like I think it will (no actual visit to Antarctica), isn’t it fraud by the industry?

I appreciate your point Kirk. I don't see it as industry fraud if there's no intent to deceive. The three cruise lines may very well believe and expect that they, and their industry, will have this certification issue resolved prior to that upcoming cruising season.

I'm sure this you this, but the cruise contract with HAL gives them the right to change the full itinerary, including embarkation/disembarkation port, even during the course of the cruise.

Also meantime, I have the full right to cancel for any reason without loss of funds until sometime in October 2021.  I have not committed any funds.

Prior to making final payment, I intend to research the polar certification issue again, Being much closer to the cruise date at that time I expect we'll find a solid answer not just speculation. If they won't have an actual visit to Antarctica I might still go because I really like the South American part of the itinerary and they might add in something else of interest during that 4-5 day part of the itinerary. Buyer beware, but I don't see industry fraud here.

All the above assumes that we're back to cruising like normal again by then and they don't start doing some silly things like selling, recycling or rerouting the Westerdam, or eliminating these longer cruises and their interesting and diverse itineraries. It's a long time away and a lot will happen between now and then.

On 7/7/2020 at 1:38 PM, Mandalay1903 said:

I posed the polar certification question to my PCC (the remaining PCCs are now working 32-hour weeks) and she had to forward it to her supervisor to research. I'm interested to see how they respond.

On 7/7/2020 at 3:55 PM, tupper10 said:

Please let us know the answer you get re these cruises. I have a reservation but since it is so far in advance I will keep it for now and cancel if we can't get south of 60 degrees.  

Following up regarding the Jan 5, 2022 South America and Antarctica cruise on the Westerdam that we had been discussing. I heard back from my PCC just now. She said her supervisor had reached out to the HAL Fleet Dept. and received the following response:

“We will not have any issues with the ship’s certificate for the 2022 season”

I'll leave it to the other cruise critics to debate how HAL will achieve any necessary certificate clearance for the Westerdam.

1 hour ago, Ready2go11 said:

i will just be glad i am not the one who has to deal with mess- unhappy customers, stranded employees, the media portrayal, the financial impact and most importantly the underlying health and safety issues!

"Roger" that!  And on top of it all, this has to be done short-staffed after all the furloughs and layoffs across HAL and the industry. My HAL Personal Cruise Consultant says that the remainder of her team is working from home and is limited to 32-hour work weeks.

When I booked a new 22-day cruise for January 2022, my PCC was kind enough to grant me some extra shipboard credit (a "Welcome Home Bonus") as if I had booked this cruise onboard or within 60 days of returning home from a cruise, which is my normal practice.  (I've had 5 cruises cancelled this year.)  Also, the HAL booking system allowed me to book this new cruise, which would normally have required $600 of deposit money, using only $200 of FCD and $400 of FCC.  My understanding is that FCCs usually can't be used as deposit money.

I think that in the long run there is a lot of goodwill from using a HAL PCC versus a TA as a middleman.

You bet there are a lot of moving parts--individual country start dates and regulations; cruise ships being sold, moved or scrapped; changing itineraries; shorter itineraries including cruises to nowhere; passengers' willingness to cruise or fly; extent and location of Covid spread; etc. etc.  An interesting bit of theater indeed.

My plan is to continue booking existing itineraries as long as I still have a few FCDs in my pocket. I'll go with the flow of itinerary changes but will be very careful about making any additional payments to the cruise lines, especially at final payment dates.

And thank you Chief for sharing the interesting article.

On 5/6/2020 I had an August 2020 cruise cancelled by HAL (my 5th this year). My only payments on that cruise had been two FCDs (one for each of us) and two other FCCs from previously cancelled 2020 cruises. After the August cruise was cancelled I elected to have my FCD value doubled if I were to have it converted into FCCs. That's exactly what happened when my deposit was finally released last week, and I applied the doubled FCCs to a future new cruise during its booking process. (I am still awaiting the release of the two FCCs applied as payment to the cancelled August 2020 cruise.)

In February 2020 I had a March 2020 cruise cancelled by HAL. It was fully paid up, and I had used two FCDs as the deposit. Within a month of the cancellation, the entirety of the cruise payments including the FCDs, taxes and fees were refunded to my credit card. Of course, that was a different time...

56 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

HAL Maasdam

HAL Veendam

Thank you very much for this summary.  I find it interesting that according to Vesselfinder.com, the Maasdam and Veendam are traveling together through the Indian Ocean en route to the Suez Canal...

29 minutes ago, fatcat04 said:

It has been rescheduled:

I wonder if they'll have a delay getting their FCCs and refunds, too... 😞

Yes, Spitzbergen.  Thanks for the clarification, RuthC!