Mandalay1903

In the "FWIW" Department, I logged in the HAL.com and requested cancellation and refunds for the excursions in my cancelled May 2021 Mediterranean cruise on the Westerdam. I cancelled them on Thursday and the refund credits were in my credit card account today (Monday).

We've booked the 28-Day Ancient Mysteries, Kingdoms & Holy Land Explorer collector cruise departing September 10, 2022 on the Volendam. This replaces our cancelled May 2021 Istanbul & Holy Land cruise on the Westerdam. 

Thank you for your diligent work in recording these cancellations and bookings. Hopefully, someday soon you'll actually be able to send a Bon Voyage message again! 🙂

1 minute ago, Vict0riann said:

Yours must be one of those "select other voyages for redeployment purposes" .  I wonder what that means exactly.  They certainly seem to be moving the ships around a lot.

Not sure, and not sure what that means either.  I'm glad HAL pulled the trigger and cancelled this next set of cruises [for us], and especially well before we had to make a decision at the final payment date. I don't think the world will be ready for cruising by this May, and may not be ready for general international tourism. 

BTW, thanks KirkNC for posting the Carnival press release.

1 minute ago, KirkNC said:

Yikes, tens a lot, you tired yet?

I'm tired of being cooped up at home...we're being quite careful with the pandemic. 2020 was going to be a very big cruising year for us--all international cruises.  That said, we have seven future cruises booked with HAL beginning 11/2021 (Aust., Antarctica/SA, SE Asia/China, and Japan/Russia).  We're going to re-book a similar HAL cruise for Istanbul/Holy Land in 2022 if they offer a similar itinerary.  2022 will be a big cruising year for us.

Likewise for our two May 2021 Europe cruises. We have now been Covid-cancelled for ten HAL cruises!  Looking forward to 2022.

Looks like Europe 2022 itineraries are posted on the HAL website.

1 hour ago, bennybear said:

Well said,  we’re waiting too but are concerned that the Westerdam is now in the Pacific.  So hard to plan, especially when one thinks it will be cancelled.  We would prefer 2022 as well! 

Thank you. I'm not so worried about the Westerdam being in the Pacific. I think it's there, along with several other HAL ships, to get its health plans accepted by the CDC.  HAL seems to be centralizing this process for a number of its ships at the Port of San Diego. I am sure a number of other lines are doing the same at other ports such as Fort Lauderdale, Miami, etc.

I've used HAL's "free air" offers before. They work great with the restrictions those above have mentioned, and the Ts & Cs. Just book your flights through FlightEase and you receive the indicated credit on your air price. The base flight pricing was the same whether or not I used the free air. The promotion ties to one booking, and if you or they cancel, the promotion doesn't automatically roll over to a future booking.

We're booked for 24 days in the Eastern Mediterranean beginning in mid-May 2021. We would take this cruise:

• if we receive the vaccines in time [not looking great right now]
• if our health allows [probably OK]
• if the itineraries stay relatively intact [I'm very doubtful that this will be the case]
• even if the shore excursions are limited to HAL's and had satisfactory content
• if the destination countries are fully open for tourists [doubtful]
• even if masks were required onboard [in the future we'll probably always wear masks on planes, the Main Stage and other crowded places to avoid "cruise crud" and colds]

We'd be thrilled if vaccines were required as a prerequisite to sail.  And we'd probably re-book the similar itineraries for 2022 if they are available.

20 hours ago, Rippo said:

Is anyone here that was part of that first weekend with HAL and what was received (if I recall, the offer came from HAL President via email).

I had two cruises cancelled in February/March 2020, before the March 30th announcement DaveOKC shows above. I received a full refund plus a FCC for a percentage of the cruise fare paid for each voyage. The FCC for one of my cruises was 50% of the cruise fare paid, and the other FCC was for 25% because that cruise left two weeks later.  Here is the verbiage from the cancellation email I received from HAL on 2/16/2020 for cancellation of my 2/29/2020 cruise.

"All guests will receive a full refund of their cruise fare, Holland America Line Flight Ease air, pre- and post-cruise hotel packages, prepaid shore excursions and other prepaid items purchased through Holland America Line, and taxes, fees, and port expenses. Your refund will be processed automatically via the method of payment used to pay for your cruise.

As your cruise has been cancelled so close to departure, each guest will also receive a Future Cruise Credit equal to 50% of the cruise fare paid on this voyage."

I also suggest you look at your email for your specific terms.

24 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

Has there been any change to the refunding of a future cruise deposit if it had not been used within a 4 year time period? 

The new policy FCDs I bought on my January 2020 cruise have the same refund feature as before.  Refundable within 4 years from the date of purchase, or refunded to you if not used within 4 years.

I don't know whether HAL has made any subsequent changes to their standard FCD program since January 2020.

1 hour ago, kwb101 said:

As far as I can tell from HAL, any FCDs you used to book a voyage are gone if it's cancelled by them (it's rolled into the base fare and included in the 125% future cruise credit).

This was the case for me for cruises which were cancelled by HAL after final payment had been made, depending on the refund deal at the time.  After the final payment date the FCD folds into the full payment.

I've also had several FCDs I purchased onboard that I'd used to book cruises. These cruises were later cancelled by HAL prior to the final payment date. In each of these cases the FCD value was doubled (from $100 to $200) as compensation and HAL issued two $100 FCCs (future cruise credits) for every $100 of FCD.  These FCCs were usable as the deposit for booking a future cruise, but unlike a FCD there would be no stateroom credit issued. In effect, HAL already gave the stateroom credit by doubling the FCD value.  My PCC said these new FCCs would be refundable, but I haven't tried.  Though it looks good in the news that they're doubling the FCD value as compensation, I still come out even because I lose the stateroom credit feature.  I don't mind, though, because I didn't lose out on anything and didn't expect to gain.

That's right. There is an FCD ID Number shown toward the upper left of the FCD Confirmation you were issued when you purchased it, just above the purchase date. This should relate to the specific terms under which the FCD was originally issued.

Thank you for the update!

1 hour ago, boze9999 said:

Just a heads up to be in charge of your own accounts.....

As always.

HAL's new FCD policy went into effect in mid-January 2020. Are you saying that FCDs purchased onboard prior to January 2020 (with the better shipboard credit benefits) are being honored using the new policy?  My understanding (as with canadianbear) is that the FCDs purchased under the old policy are honored with the old benefits. The new FCDs purchased under the new policy are honored with the new (lower) benefits.

3 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

I hope so 😃

Same here. If that's not the case and they end up canceling, I'd sure like to rebook on our same Eastern Mediterranean itinerary in 2022.

22 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

So is the N.S.

Could it be that HAL is bringing the Westerdam and N.S. back across the pond to work through the CDC standards now while they have a break in their schedules before resuming their sailings in Europe?

6 hours ago, BJzink said:

I was on the Voyage of the Viking cruise for 2021, moved to summer 2022 - was told I would have my itinerary and confirmation by December 15, 2020.  

Thanks for the information. Which 2021 cruise date and ship were you originally booked on?

15 hours ago, SummmerInKefalonia said:

But that wasn't the issue when they released Alaska's 2022 deployment two weeks ago...

The Europe itineraries are a lot more complicated than those of Alaska. More countries involved and longer itineraries.

Better to use it and cancel, than to not use it and lose it.

20 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

With the “Have it All” promo sun setting 12/8 HAL have announced their next promo which will be “View and Verandah” which will have a few tweaks over past years.

Thanks for sending out information like this, as you do from time to time. I find it helpful, as do others I'm sure.

35 minutes ago, bennybear said:

We’re on the latter part of this cruise to Israel,  and I am thinking the likelihood is extremely low,  especially since the Westerdam is apparently being sent to North America.  Not sure why they would announce that when her European cruises start in April.  Is the writing on the wall or is it another snafu?   At this point I would be happy if they just moved it to 2022, like they are doing with Asia.

I agree that it's really odd to announce that they're sending Westerdam to North America, only then to be (apparently) returned to Europe to start up in Barcelona in April. Maybe it has to do with getting certified in the US, not sure.

Moving this cruise to 2022 sounds like a likely scenario, but I sure hope it would have a very similar itinerary to the 2021 version.

1 hour ago, zelker said:

Can FCCs be applied to an already booked (deposit only at this point) cruise?

Yes, I was able to do so twice with the same FCCs after having applied them to cruises which were subsequently cancelled.