Windsailer

Thanks Crew News. That's reassuring!

I have been trying to use the Stockperks app on my new iPhone for the past week. Numerous emails from Stockperks either saying my submission had problems and the submission was successful. Nothing directly from HAL. This morning I received this:

Hello

 

I hope HAL is saving a lot of money by using Stockperks rather having HAL staff process the requests. I find it to be a horrible process. 

When I board the Noordam at the end of September the Nieuw Amsterdam will also be in port and boarding passengers. Will it be obvious where I should check in so I don't end up on the NA. (Not that I would normally mind!). TIA. 

4 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

I think you are probably safe, between Club Orange, booking before the policy was started, not being warned, and the strict limitation NOT being in effect (although at least two of us did get the idea from our PCC, that that was the end goal).

 

Club Orange may in fact be the way around being bumped...

I hope so!  I am a bit more encouraged now. 

6 minutes ago, TRLD said:

Their policy is not necessarily to limit couples to double cabins. It is more to give advance notice that if solo or couple book a 3/4 cabin  and if there are 2 cabins in the same class or higher there is some chance, however small, that they might get bumped. 

 

If all cabins are 3/4 no way to bump you to a 2 if there are none for a given class or higher. If some are 3 and some are 4 probably better of to book a 3.

Well, there wasn't any advance notice when I booked any of these cruises. 

I have 4 cruises booked - two over Christmas. Three of the 4 cruises I used Club Orange to upgrade to VA cabins. All these cabins are marked as triples or quads. I am most concerned about this year's Christmas cruise so I asked my TA - who is terrific - to find me a new VA cabin that isn't a triple or quad. She did a search for a single passenger and came up with 8 cabins. All are either triple or quad! So if their policy is to limit solos or couples to double cabins it isn't working. I really, really hope I don't get bumped. 

52 minutes ago, richart said:

Hopefully someone can give you a better answer than I since I have yet to embark out of Vancouver, I have read the following on posts on this board:

1. Porters are available at curbside.
2. Baggage drop off is on Level P2.

3. Princess used Level D4 (Convention Center) for baggage drop off during one passenger's cruise.
 

This is really, really helpful. Thanks!

I am staying at the Auberge Hotel and plan on walking over with my suitcase to Canada Place. Are there signs so I will know where to find the porters to give them my bag? I have only arrived by cab in the past. Thanks in advance. 

I wonder how Club Orange factors into this? On three of my upcoming cruises - all on the Noordam - I upgraded from a VH to a VA. The VAs are either triples or quads? I travel solo. Are they going to kick me out of my cabin if a family wants it? I would not be a happy camper. Especially if it happened after final payment. 

Has anyone had success calling the HAL Shore Ex line and finding additional details about a tour? For example. there is a shore ex in Thailand that says passengers will be taken to a premier resort with a wonderful beach. I called and asked what the resort was and they said they didn't know. Isn't that something HAL would have set up before they posted the shore ex? Any suggestions on how to obtain additional information? The reviews are are very old. TIA.

2 hours ago, SDARCH said:

Yes and yes. 

Thanks. I'll do that. 

If you have Club Orange on NS - would it be better to wait until dinner in the CO dining room and order from the CO wine steward? Are they really able to tell you what wines are actually in stock?

Hopefully the earthquake this morning at 10:06 am didn't affect anyone's day. It was 5.7 and lasted about 30 seconds - I live a bit south of downtown Kona. 

My motivation is the cabin upgrade, priority boarding, priority tendering and on ships with a separate dining room - the separate dining room. I am not as attached to Club Orange totes as others!. 

Years ago we decided to do an experiment on our FLL to Seattle cruise. Normally we book balconies, but we booked an inside cabin and a Retreat Cabana.for thousands less than just a balcony would have been. It was great, especially going through the Panama Canal.  No children, very low key and service was exceptional. With HALs recent change (and some CCers recent experiences) no way would I do that again. 

On my three HAL cruises in 2023 I booked the excursions I wanted in advance, paid for them in advance and once on board I immediately went to the Shore Excursion desk to switch the payment from my credit card to OBC. It was very easy. Except one tour was more expensive on the ship so I had to pay the current price, not the price it was when I originally booked and paid for it. All the money came back to me as refundable OBC and it was returned to my credit card if not spent by the end of the cruise. 

The MDR was not open for lunch on the Noordam a month ago. 

Having a lot of OBC I ordered flowers recently on the Noordam. I went to Customer Service the first day, looked through the book and picked out the arrangement (and vase) I wanted. I asked if I could specify the flowers and she said no. The flowers showed up later that day. Wrong vase and different flowers than the picture. And i really disliked the vase. I sent a "Let Us Know" message through Navigator, the florist came (when I was out on a tour) and brought another arrangement and the correct vase. My room steward said he was really sorry and it was his mistake. The flowers last 6 days. I brought the vase home. Next time i will order a bottle of wine instead. 

I did the same. And will do on my next cruise.i try to get it down to nothing. The Dutch Cafe baristas were really happy!

2 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The Bad Request is annoying. Try Chrome in incognito mode. Someone on here suggested it recently, and it has worked for me.

I did and it actually worked thanks. At least it does today. 

The cruise isn't until December 2024. I wanted to book it early since it's a Christmas cruise with my sons, one of whom hasn't cruised on HAL and the other hasn't in a long time. So final payment is a ways off. My TA (who is great) said early on that the new price with the one day reduction would be based on current rates. At that point I calculated what the one day reduction should be based on the price on my invoice and I told her that was what I was willing to accept. She came back with a price within $50 of what I expected (I think she probably lowered her commission).  I am asking HAL for the other $50. 

It's really a shame this happened. With all the website issues (I really can't get into any of my 3 booked cruises without seeing the Bad Request page again and again) it's quite sad. 

21 minutes ago, albingirl said:

Agree.

Yes, that would be fair. 

9 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I'm confused. It sounds like you're getting 1/14th of a higher fare. Isn't that a bigger refund?  Or are they subtracting 1/14th of your original fare from the new higher fare? (In which case, I would spell shifty a little differently)

The latter. And I thought about spelling it that way. 

2 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

I think this makes NO sense at all!  Hopefully, something is lost in translation.

What doesn't make sense? What I said or what HAL did?

So HAL just notified my TA that our 2024 cruise is being shortened by one day, one port lost and another added. Instead of a 14 cruise it now will be 13 days. The letter said in relevant portion:

"Please be advised that due to deployment changes we have made adjustments to your clients’ voyage. This cruise will now be one day shorter and will end in Singapore on Saturday, January 4, 2025. The cruise fare will be reduced by one day and you will receive a new booking confirmation shortly."

Leaving aside the fact that since it's only 13 days now I will get less CCL OBC, you would think the way to determine what the new far should be would be to take the original fare, divide it by 14 and then that number would be the daily rate to be subtracted from the original fare to come up with the new fare. Easy - peasey. Right?

Not so fast! Apparently the price of the cruise has gone up in the 20 days since we booked. The subtraction will be based on this NEW fare. So very little savings. Pretty shifty of HAL. MY TA - who is great - tried to argue my point but didn't get anywhere.

What do you guys think?