Holland America web site

Alternate Link for Booking Login

 

 

 

Try using this link: https://book2.hollandamerica.com/secondaryFlow/login Hope that helps!

 

HAL sent me an email today about my booking and when I tried to use the links, I got the 404 / invalid link messages. Might need to be checking to make sure the emails are properly linked prior to sending;)

 

Happy Sailing! :D

Thanks for this link. With it, you are basically bypassing the new website, and going directly to the "book2" section, which is the part where already booked guests can purchase shore excursions, wine and beverage packages, and access Flight Ease. That part of the website has not been changed and still works OK.

There are 3 basic sections to the HAL website.

First is the inventory section, an SQL database, which lists available cruises, prices, attached promotions and available cabins. That is the part that HAL people update daily.

The second part is the registered guest database. That keeps a record of every past, present and future HAL guest who has setup an account. It lists their past cruises on the Mariner section, presently booked cruises, and all of the options and extras that was purchased.

The third part is the user interface that accesses these other 2 parts, which are huge databases, most likely SQL databases. The user interface is the part that HAL has changed and is causing so many problems. As syesmar has shown, once you get past the initial user interface (new website) and jump to the "book2" sub module, all is as it was before. That has not changed and it works well.

Are you assuming the email was human-composed and human-sent?

In this brave new world, virtually everything that comes from HAL is computer composed, generated, compiled, and sent.

Alternate Link for Booking Login

 

 

 

Try using this link: https://book2.hollandamerica.com/secondaryFlow/login Hope that helps!

 

HAL sent me an email today about my booking and when I tried to use the links, I got the 404 / invalid link messages. Might need to be checking to make sure the emails are properly linked prior to sending;)

 

Happy Sailing! :D

Thanks Syesmar, that worked

Just for the fun of it, since the new site seemed to be working this morning as intended, I counted the clicks necessary to check cabin availability on a SPECIFIC cruise in a SPECIFIC category (Don't get me started on actually FINDING a cruise). It took 13 clicks (and I was familiar with the layout and knew how to get there) to get the info; if I wanted to check another category, I had to start the entire process over again.

Oh my, mame42, that’s a LOT of steps! I hope they will get it streamlined soon.

Some of the same issues have been going on for quite a while! I’m going to paste links to some of the recent Threads on this topic, as they have some tips and workarounds for some issues.

“Single Thread: new website issues and discussions” https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2619944

“Why are HAL cruises NOT on their website?”

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2642176

“How to get to old HAL website”

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2623899

“HAL’s website - what a mess!”

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2647377

“Website Problems”

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2654682

Happy Sailing!:)

DH gets special email from HAL today with links for online check-in for our upcoming Maasdam cruise. Links do not work, refuses to load or else he gets the 404 message. He walks away disgusted. (July 23, 2018 - website problems noted since March 2018)

Ditto. It just spins & spins....

Still no issues for me.

I also agree that Holland's current website is a mess and very user unfriendly.

We have been sailing HAL almost exclusively the last few years but are sailing on Princess in October. So today the cruise docs were available and it was such a breeze to get to the docs and print what we needed. Everything you needed for the cruise had a link to it on one page.

If you are looking at doing research or booking a cruise the Princess site is so much easier to use and has all available cabins showing.

Since Holland and Princess are under the same corporate "umbrella" why can't they bring the Princess IT people over to HAL and show them how to design a web site that works.

I also agree that Holland's current website is a mess and very user unfriendly.

 

We have been sailing HAL almost exclusively the last few years but are sailing on Princess in October. So today the cruise docs were available and it was such a breeze to get to the docs and print what we needed. Everything you needed for the cruise had a link to it on one page.

 

 

If you are looking at doing research or booking a cruise the Princess site is so much easier to use and has all available cabins showing.

 

 

Since Holland and Princess are under the same corporate "umbrella" why can't they bring the Princess IT people over to HAL and show them how to design a web site that works.

I think the Seattle management fan club is still in the "blame the end point user" stage of the game.

Still no issues for me.

I understand that you are having no problems, but I have a question: Do you find it cumbersome and time consuming when researching cruises and cabin availability? I counted 13 clicks to check the availability of one category cabin on a specific cruise, and I knew my way around the site.

I understand that you are having no problems, but I have a question: Do you find it cumbersome and time consuming when researching cruises and cabin availability? I counted 13 clicks to check the availability of one category cabin on a specific cruise, and I knew my way around the site.

I'm another with no "problems" per se, but I agree completely that the length of time and number of steps required to do cabin research are abysmal. We have a booking on the Nieuw Statendam for next year and I wanted to see the price under Explore 4. I never did find a way to limit my selection to a V-category veranda, so I had to use separate deck plans. I'm quite sure that the total number of clicks was higher than your 13, but it might depend on the category.

Switching to an online TA enabled me to conduct the search with far less effort.

I'm another with no "problems" per se, but I agree completely that the length of time and number of steps required to do cabin research are abysmal. We have a booking on the Nieuw Statendam for next year and I wanted to see the price under Explore 4. I never did find a way to limit my selection to a V-category veranda, so I had to use separate deck plans. I'm quite sure that the total number of clicks was higher than your 13, but it might depend on the category.

 

........

Houston, that was a problem.

I think the Seattle management fan club is still in the "blame the end point user" stage of the game.

Alternate opinion:

Seattle is stuck on the notion that "it's more important to find new customers than to serve

our existing customers". :rolleyes:

Alternate opinion:

 

Seattle is stuck on the notion that "it's more important to find new customers than to serve

our existing customers". :rolleyes:

Data will validate that presumption. Wish we could see it for ourselves. Maybe by anecdote we will notice it immediately with a changed onboard demographic - younger and 24/7 wired. In that case I think I shall long for the "quiet cars" on German trains.

Alternate opinion:

 

Seattle is stuck on the notion that "it's more important to find new customers than to serve

our existing customers". :rolleyes:

Totally illogical. If existing customers familiar with HAL, the ins and outs of cabin categories, guarantees, promotional pricing etc., etc., experience difficulty, how would they ever expect a new customer to navigate the website?

Totally illogical. If existing customers familiar with HAL, the ins and outs of cabin categories, guarantees, promotional pricing etc., etc., experience difficulty, how would they ever expect a new customer to navigate the website?

Uhh… Did you know that such things mattered when you booked your first cruise?

Show them a pretty picture, maybe a list of ports of call, make them feel the voyage, and don't

whatever you do let them get bored on the way to the "BOOK IT!" button.

File me under "C" -- for cynical. :halo:

I understand that you are having no problems, but I have a question: Do you find it cumbersome and time consuming when researching cruises and cabin availability? I counted 13 clicks to check the availability of one category cabin on a specific cruise, and I knew my way around the site.

Yes. Absolutely.

I also hate that there is no longer an at-a-glance itinerary with the accompanying port information in superscript (tender port, etc).

Uhh… Did you know that such things mattered when you booked your first cruise?

 

Show them a pretty picture, maybe a list of ports of call, make them feel the voyage, and don't

whatever you do let them get bored on the way to the "BOOK IT!" button.

 

File me under "C" -- for cynical. :halo:

Price, date and itinerary is all that mattered for our first cruise. Location of cabin and reputation of cruise line was not even on the horizon. I assumed they were all the same. I still want to know price, date and itinerary first and foremost. But reputation of the cruise line no longer matters since we have pretty much settled on HAL.

HAL website no longer makes it easy to find date, price and itinerary. Before, it was fill out the clunky master search feature and boom, you were there. All your choices handed to you in an easy to read format with instant and static visuals.

Totally illogical. If existing customers familiar with HAL, the ins and outs of cabin categories, guarantees, promotional pricing etc., etc., experience difficulty, how would they ever expect a new customer to navigate the website?

Perhaps HAL has a vested interest in keeping us, the consumers, ignorant. Therefore a neophyte cruiser is a more attractive customer.

What can I say.....

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Web site was down last night for maintenance. Worked great this AM, printing boarding docs. Maybe they've resolved some of their issues **fingers crossed**