price drop, cancelled, re-booked & lost my cabana

[ebkallen]

:eek: I'm a newbie as far as Holland America and never have called in on a price drop. It was simple enough to cancel the booking and re-book at the lower price when I asked the agent about the HMC Cabana I had paid for in full on the first booking she said I'll transfer you to shore excursions so you can check, she didn't know. The agent at shore ex was unsure but asked a co-worker and said that once you cancel a booking all shore excursions are cancelled too, but he had me leave a voice mail for his supervisor? I had no idea that would happen. Now all Cabanas are waitlisted for our sailing, I had orginally booked the last available one.

[sail7seas]

Yes. It makes sense that if the cabin is cancelled then you are considered not sailing and can't have your assigned dining or cabana or excursions seeing as you won't be aboard. When you rebook, you again can reserve all the amenities you want.

 

It is too bad the reps you were working with didn't make that clear.

Hopefully you will clear the wait list and get your cabana back.

[S&M in Pgh]

It will happen if you take an upgrade:eek:

[LAFFNVEGAS]

This does not make any sense??? Are you upgrading your cabin after final payment? Or is this before final, before final and sailing the same ship and same date your booking number should stay the same even if you up grade or down grade. Now if you did this after final..... which I am not sure why you would because of the penalties involved but if it is after final and you are taking advantage of a Flash Rate then yes they would have had to cancel your booking and rebook you. If it is after final and just upgrading not taking a flash rate then the booking number should remain the same and HAL normally gladly upgrades people who want to pay the higher priced cabin that is not a Flash promotion.

As long as your booking number remains the same any shore excursions or cabanas would remain.

[AZNative2000]

This does not make any sense??? Are you upgrading your cabin after final payment? Or is this before final, before final and sailing the same ship and same date your booking number should stay the same even if you up grade or down grade. Now if you did this after final..... which I am not sure why you would because of the penalties involved but if it is after final and you are taking advantage of a Flash Rate then yes they would have had to cancel your booking and rebook you. If it is after final and just upgrading not taking a flash rate then the booking number should remain the same and HAL normally gladly upgrades people who want to pay the higher priced cabin that is not a Flash promotion.

As long as your booking number remains the same any shore excursions or cabanas would remain.

 

When I found the first price reduction on our upcoming cruise, it WAS BEFORE FINAL PAYMENT. I called HAL (booking made directly with PCC) and since our PCC was on vacation, I got a newbie. After checking our price he told me he'd have to cancel and re-book to get the new rate. I wanted assurances we would NOT lose our cabin and he promised I wouldn't. (We didn't:)) The booking was cancelled and re-booked AND I GOT A NEW CONFIRMATION NUMBER. I thought that was it until I saw my credit card statement. ALL our shorex and onboard gifts had been REFUNDED because they'd been CANCELLED!:eek: When I called back, I was told the newbie should have re-booked everything at the same time but didn't. Happily we got everything back but we DID NOT RESERVE A CABANA. I can imagine that is a whole other can of worms. Good luck to the OP! I hope you get YOUR cabana back.

[Beebob1]

It will happen if you take an upgrade:eek:

 

Didn't happen to us when we were offered an upgrade :confused:

[Jo-Bob]

Please re-read the first post. There is no mention of an upgrade, this is not the issue here. Thanks.

[Jade13]

Why couldn't the Rep honor the price drop as they said they would without canceling and re-booking? This is something that HAL does that does not seem to be a problem with Celebrity.

 

Once canceled all ShoreEx go back on the original credit card that they were purchased on. This seems like something that had to be taken care immediately while the reservation was being canceled/changed/rebooked instead of leaving a vm for someone to pick up later. In the meantime the Cabana went to the first person on the waitlist.

[lovetocruise2020]

:eek: I'm a newbie as far as Holland America and never have called in on a price drop. It was simple enough to cancel the booking and re-book at the lower price when I asked the agent about the HMC Cabana I had paid for in full on the first booking she said I'll transfer you to shore excursions so you can check, she didn't know. The agent at shore ex was unsure but asked a co-worker and said that once you cancel a booking all shore excursions are cancelled too, but he had me leave a voice mail for his supervisor? I had no idea that would happen. Now all Cabanas are waitlisted for our sailing, I had orginally booked the last available one.

 

Oh goodness...same thing happened to me, darn nightmare... i upgraded and lost everything.. some reps at hal really need to get it together... good thing there are other hmc cabanas avail for me, now just waiting on refund. Havent been on my firdt hal cruise but already fighting w them. Too much mis info or lack there of, leaving oct 30 sorry for typos.. on my cell

[Jade13]

When I found the first price reduction on our upcoming cruise, it WAS BEFORE FINAL PAYMENT. I called HAL (booking made directly with PCC) and since our PCC was on vacation, I got a newbie. After checking our price he told me he'd have to cancel and re-book to get the new rate. I wanted assurances we would NOT lose our cabin and he promised I wouldn't. (We didn't:)) The booking was cancelled and re-booked AND I GOT A NEW CONFIRMATION NUMBER. I thought that was it until I saw my credit card statement. ALL our shorex and onboard gifts had been REFUNDED because they'd been CANCELLED!:eek: When I called back, I was told the newbie should have re-booked everything at the same time but didn't. Happily we got everything back but we DID NOT RESERVE A CABANA. I can imagine that is a whole other can of worms. Good luck to the OP! I hope you get YOUR cabana back.

 

A bigger issue with re-booking is that many insurance policies that include a pre-existing condition waiver will no longer do so if a trip is canceled and re-booked.

 

One of these days we will hear about someone with a huge medical claim that is being refused by the insurance company. A number of policies such as CSA which can be bought at final specifically state that the waiver will be null and void if the trip is canceled and re-booked (even though intent was to save money).

[Krazy Kruizers]

:eek: I'm a newbie as far as Holland America and never have called in on a price drop. It was simple enough to cancel the booking and re-book at the lower price when I asked the agent about the HMC Cabana I had paid for in full on the first booking she said I'll transfer you to shore excursions so you can check, she didn't know. The agent at shore ex was unsure but asked a co-worker and said that once you cancel a booking all shore excursions are cancelled too, but he had me leave a voice mail for his supervisor? I had no idea that would happen. Now all Cabanas are waitlisted for our sailing, I had orginally booked the last available one.

 

Yes -- this will happen. We had to cancel 2 cruises this past year. When I called to cancel them I asked about getting all the gifts and dinner reservations and shore excursions cancelled. The lady told me not to worry about it -- that everything is automatically cancelled when the cruise is cancelled.

Too bad you did not have a representative who when she pulled up your booking saw that you had the Cabana booked (as well as anything else) and informed you that your Cabana booking would be cancelled as well.

[Krazy Kruizers]

It will happen if you take an upgrade:eek:

 

When we did an upsell last year -- nothing was cancelled for us.

Don't understand why everything would have been cancelled for you when it was HAL who upgraded you.

[ebkallen]

The deal with the price reduction, in order to take advantage I had to cancel my exsisiting booking and re-book because the rates advertised are for new bookings only. My final payment is due 10/19. I don't understand either why my, the agent didn't see I had paid in full for that Cabana on that booking. I did call my cruise insurance company to let them know about the change in the cost of the trip, they didn't want any other information than the new total cost of the trip. I believe they never had the booking number to begin with, he said as long as nothing else changed.

[sapper1]

We have had upsells, upgrades and have had our TA take advantage of price drops for us. In all cases I have said I don't want to lose any booked shore excursions or dining arrangements and she always manages to take care of us without a change in booking number which would result in the losses.

[taxmantoo]

It will happen if you take an upgrade:eek:

 

Simply not true. An upgrade changes nothing on the booking except the room number!

[TLHB70]

The same thing happened to us. It was a nightmare. We did the rebooking for the discount late at night so I was able to call HAL at opening the following morning to rebook and work things out. It was a HUGE mess! We have learned our lesson.

I am so sorry; I know exactly how you feel!

[Mary Ellen]

:eek: I'm a newbie as far as Holland America and never have called in on a price drop. It was simple enough to cancel the booking and re-book at the lower price .....

This is why you lost the cabana. You canceled your booking. If you had merely upgraded your current booking, you would have been fine. Apparently to get the new, lower price you needed to re-book. This is why we sometimes don't always take advantage of price drops. Our (excellent) TA explained that we would lose things associated with our current booking - such as the dining we wish, possibly the cabin..... This is why we use a TA, their knowlege protects our best interest.

 

Good luck clearing the wait list for a cabana.

[parrotfeathers]

I wanted to change the time of my specialty restaurant reservations and was told they would have to be cancelled and rebooked. HAL told me it would be easier to tell the concierge when I got there and he could take care of it.

[serendipity1499]

IMO, this is where a good Travel Agent is worth "his/her weight in gold" Unfortunately, not all PCC's or Res. Agents, in any company, take the time necessary to look at the entire booking & change it accordingly..It's not always their fault, as in most large Reservation Centers, they are required to take "X" number of calls per day..If they don't meet the goal, their evaluations suffer...;)

We're traveling with Friends in Nov. & originally accepted a Guarantee which neither couple wanted..Our TA was finally able to confirm specific cabins, however we were quite far apart...On checking on=line for other Friends who will be joining us on the 2nd leg of the trip, I noticed that the cabin next door to our other Friends was available.. Called our TA & he immediately had our cabin switched with the same booking No.

However, the HAL Agent failed to see that we had confirmed Main dining.. On pulling up our Boarding Passes I noticed it said open seating...Our TA had it switched immediately to Confirmed main..

Re up-grades or up-sells..It once again boils down to the PCC or Res. Agent..Last month we accepted an up-sell for our Bermuda cruise two weks before departure & kept the same booking number..

To the OP, Hope you get a cabana back as understand your disappointment..

Cheers........:)Betty

[sail7seas]

A bigger issue with re-booking is that many insurance policies that include a pre-existing condition waiver will no longer do so if a trip is canceled and re-booked.

 

One of these days we will hear about someone with a huge medical claim that is being refused by the insurance company. A number of policies such as CSA which can be bought at final specifically state that the waiver will be null and void if the trip is canceled and re-booked (even though intent was to save money).

 

 

The Rep can and should do that. No explaining why they let it all slide.

 

Interesting point about the travel insurance and that is troubling. I'm not sure what would happen and hope to never hear it was a negative outcome.

[rangeley]

If it is a price drop on the website, all you have to do is call up and request the lower price. IF it's a "special offer" from one of the flyers they sent you, then you have to rebook, cuz it's for "new bookings only". We went through this a few years ago.

[Typhoon1]

Was the price change worth losing your cabana?

 

I think not.

[maxout]

Was the price change worth losing your cabana?

 

I think not.

 

I think it was more of a matter of not realizing the consequences prior to making the decision.

[AZNative2000]

If it is a price drop on the website, all you have to do is call up and request the lower price.

 

Not true for us. We did call after finding the price drop ON THE WEBSITE and were told it had to be re-booked because of the lower fare. Six weeks ago.

[Davidson Duo]

The deal with the price reduction, in order to take advantage I had to cancel my exsisiting booking and re-book because the rates advertised are for new bookings only.

 

As this price was for new bookings only, ANY previous booking items would have been treated as not existing. A new booking is just that - it starts as a clean slate. You are booked as of that date, so any requests for tours, dining choices, cabanas etc. are scheduled as requested that date and if there are others on a waiting list ahead of you, they get first choice for openings in those areas.

 

If you want to take advantage of choices you made previously, you can't say I want to make a new booking. You can't have it both ways. Either you keep your previous booking and all the perks you have associated with it, or you make a NEW booking. It is not an upgrade, a booking change, or an up-sell. It is what it is. A clean slate - thus the label "new" booking.

 

We all want to be able to take advantage of every opportunity we can, but sometimes we can't fudge the policies to make it fit our every whim. In this case, the cruise lines make it clear this excellent price drop is only available to those making a "new" booking. The lower price is not always the best choice for us. It is appealing to those who do not have a reservation and would like to get on the cruise, but don't have the option of first choice for cabanas, tours, seating, etc. If your existing perks are important to you, keep them. If not, cancel and go for the new booking. But in all fairness to the cruise lines, we can't expect them to fudge the policy so we can have it all. That isn't what is offered. You have choices - but they both have consequences. You just have to decide which one you want and can live with. But in all fairness - you can't expect both when they have clearly stated - "new bookings only".

 

I understand the frustration with the booking agent not making this clear at the time. But when I read the wording of the offer, it seems clear that your previous items would not be transferable. I hope you are able to get a cabana for your cruise, but I'm sure if not, there will still be so many other great things about your cruise that will make it a great one. Give me a ship, the open water, and the awesome HAL crew, and I'm in heaven! Good luck, have a great cruise, and ENJOY! :)