GabbiRose

I missed the last 4 minutes due to a power outage. I hope I will get the points.

On 5/6/2020 at 12:11 PM, Kfrech said:

I don't know how the FCC works because I opted for a full refund. I cancelled on 3/8 for a June Alaskan cruise. I've received no monies back at this point.

 

I actually used 3 different credit cards to pay for my cruise and disputed each one separately. It's a relatively easy process. You'll have to visit each credit card's website.

 

The CC company credits you back the monies...conditionally. They will give you a date where they expect the matter to be resolved between themselves and HAL. It is my understanding that once that date passes, the credited money is yours. They ask you to make them aware of any correspondence, credits, etc. that you receive from HAL.

 

I actually initiated the disputes weeks ago. I didn't even wait for the 60 day mark, since I have so little faith that HAL will refund any monies (whether willingly or otherwise).

Thank you Krech for your great advice! Also, thank you to all others who posted on disputing with the credit card companies! With all your great "how to" advice I initiated 3 disputes with the 2 credit card companies and got all my money back. I want to give back and give an update to help others who may want to use the dispute route. My update is as follows:

• 3/6/2020 - Self cancelled 5/10/2020, 14-day Baltic Cruise with roundtrip Flight Ease airfare. Was told refund would be 10% FCC and the remainder back to the credit cards in 7 to 10 business days.
• 5/6/2020 - Disputed the 3 credit card charges with the 2 credit card companies.
• 5/8/2020 - Received all my money back as conditional credits from both CC companies.
• 5/25/2020 - CC #1 made the conditional credit permanent. This will be the credit card I will use for future bookings -- super speedy response!
• 7/6/2020 - CC #2 made the remaining 2 conditional credits permanent.

I am really glad I went the dispute route. I really didn't want FCC in the first place and now I don't have to deal with it. Thank you everyone who helped me!

1 hour ago, rwams said:

Received my refund to my credit card yesterday for my May cruise to the Baltic...glad this is over for me. 

I think we would have been on the same Baltic cruise, 05/10/2020 round trip from Amsterdam. I cancelled on 03/07/2020 through the Big C warehouse. After 61 days of no communications from HAL I disputed with the 2 credit cards I used. The 2 CCs gave me all my monies back in conditional credits. As of today, HAL has NOT sent me anything!!!

Did you get all your money back or did you get FCC for deposit/penalties and money back for the remaining cost? I cancelled 64 days before departure where I would be penalized the deposit amount. I booked at a special reduced deposit of $200. When I cancelled, I was expecting the $200 deposit penalty back as FCC but HAL turned that $200 FCC into $800 FCC. HAL said that the reduced deposit penalty is turned into a full deposit penalty. I think this is unfair because I don't see it anywhere in the contract. I really don't want any FCC. I hope HAL does not contest my disputes with the CCs. I don't know when I can cruise again.

3 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Have to agree with you about the name calling but don’t think it was intentional.   I’d never heard that expression before but it’s kind of “schoolyard” shaming that I would hope exists in the past.  

Thank you for the explanation!

1 hour ago, fatcat04 said:

Oh give me a break. You know perfectly well it is just a manner of speech.

Actually, I don't know. Please educate me instead of yelling. Your bold print means I touched a nerve and you're yelling at me, right?

19 minutes ago, Petunia1950 said:

Now it seems just to be a bunch of Bitter Betties who can't say anything nice, but find lots of things to complain about. 

Sorry you feel this way. Why are you so sexist -- why name females and not males? Personally, I find all the comments helpful. I don't view them as complaints. I view them as advice as how to get a refund that is due to you. I'm not HAL's banker nor do I want to be.

What reason do I enter on the form for the dispute since I am the one who cancelled it. I'm sorry I even had to consider a dispute. When I first cancelled on 3/7, HAL told me 7-10 days to see the credit back on my card. I waited patiently. After 15 days, I called HAL and they said 30 days. I had no more communications with HAL since that call. I then read on these forum that the wait is 60 days, then 90 days. Well, I am 61 days today and still NOTHING from HAL.

Today is the 61 day mark since I cancelled. I cancelled on 3/7 for a 5/10 cruise. I was supposed to get FCC for the deposit and penalties, and the rest credited back to my credit cards. I used 2 different credit cards to pay. How do I dispute the charges with the 2 credit card companies? Would the credit card companies give me back all my money including the amount of the FCC? Please don't yell at me. If you don't agree with disputing, please scroll on by. I'm seeking advice on how to do a dispute which I have never ever done.

Please help me decide. I plan to get a data only SIM card for my trip/cruise. I will arrive in Amsterdam 4 days prior to a 14-day Baltic cruise. Should I wait till I get to Schiphol Airport to get the SIM card or should I get it online and have it ready before I arrive in Amsterdam? If I get it online it will probably cost less and I know for sure I will have one but it may not work in Amsterdam nor in any of the port stops of the Baltic cruise. Are SIM cards readily available at Schiphol Airport and what are my choices? Also do you know if the cruise ship (HAL Nieuw Statendam) will sail close enough to the seashore that I can still get cellular connection using the SIM card or do I really need to buy the ship’s internet plan. I plan to use the SIM card for navigation and web surfing. I don’t need to make any calls. Any and all recommendations for a brand of SIM card will be greatly appreciated!

@MAVIP -- Thank you for the transit map!

@BarbinMich and @Kazu -- The canals are so picturesque! I'm definitely going to take one of the canal cruises. Thank you for the info!

Aw too bad I'll have only 2 full days in Amsterdam for sightseeing. There's just too much too see in only 2 days.

I want to say a big THANK YOU to all who responded! Thank you for all the useful info. This helps a lot!

This will be our first time ever in Europe – 14 days Baltic Cruise on the Nieuw Statendam. My DH and I will be arriving 4 days before the cruise, staying at the Element Amsterdam, and using public transit. We are a couple of old fogies who are still mobile and travel light with a couple of carry-on. Our plan is to get the 3-day (€28) unlimited transit pass for getting us to the hotel and touring around Amsterdam. We plan to take the NS Intercity train and transfer to Bus 62 to get to the hotel. For the 4^th day, we plan to get the 1-hour pass (€3.20) to get to the cruise terminal. Does anyone see any problems with our transit plan or have better ideas?

If I posted this in the wrong forum please accept my apologies. All this planning and researching is making my head spin!

I was on the Eurodam this past November. I attended one ATK demo and found it not very interesting. It was so boring that I left half way through the demo. At the beginning of this demo, the chef informed us that she could not give out any samples of what she cooked. That was the deal breaker for me – no taste samples of the cooking demo!!!

The chef told us that they had an inspection the day prior to this demo. If I remember correctly, she said that they did not pass inspections. The Health Inspector would not allow cooking samples to be given out because the space of the test kitchen was shared with other activities.

The chef did give out hard copies of all recipes that were demoed. She also told us that you can get these recipes online at their website. I didn’t bother to note it down at the time but I did look it up just now -- https://www.americastestkitchen.com/guides/america-s-test-kitchen-onboard-holland-america-line. As for a promo code, I did not hear of any for the short time I was at the cooking demo.

8 hours ago, taba said:

Has anyone had success booking under the new 3 day sale? It looks like the OBC has double over the current promotion.

Thank you Taba! I've been checking and waiting for the cruise prices to go down. This double OBC was the nudge I needed to book my cruise today. I did get double OBC -- $300 instead of $150 for a Veranda cabin on a 10-day Panama cruise.

Thank you to all for responding! I decided to go with a FWD cabin on Deck 8 on the port side. I hope the port side is the "better" more scenic side.

This will be my first cruise with HAL. I cruised with Celebrity a couple of times and loved it. On both Celebrity cruises I was on an AFT cabin, Deck 7 for the first one and Deck 8 for the second one. For this Panama cruise on Eurodam. I tried to book an AFT cabin on Deck 7. The travel website I was using will not allow me to select an AFT cabin on Deck 7. The best I could do was pick a guaranteed VE cabin. I called the travel agent associated with the website to confirm that a guaranteed VE would be on Deck 7, hopefully port side too. The travel agent told me VE could be on Deck 4, 7, or 8. I don’t see any VE cabins on Deck 4 and 8. Anyone know where these cabins are or what I might end up getting?