Statendam strands 78 passengers

[DAllenTCY]

Guests were ferried to Seattle and they spent the night at the SEATAC Airport Hilton. They will fly via Alaska Airlines nonstop to San Diego throughout the day tomorrow. The Sheraton Harbor and Marina will put them up until Thursday, where they will board at the new Broadway Pier for their cruise. All of this was covered by HAL. Their only out-of-pocket expenses would be for food. They were offered a cash payment if they chose to divert on their own. At least 58 will join the ship in San Diego. There is no problem with boarding or disembarking in Victoria instead of Vancouver nor with sailing from San Diego to Florida. The Panama Canal cruises stop at a distant foreign port along the way.

David

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

This seems fair to me. I assume that San Diego was the first port at which they could board the ship.

[Taxguy77]

I am wondering if the NCL ship is the same NCL Pearl which was reported to have done some damage at Ketchikan after all other ships bypassed same said port because of severe weather?????????? If so............................

 

Sorry that your friends were stranded, but if they had a cell phone or some other PoC they migt have had some notice. Also the weather could have been so bad that the HAL Rep could not even get to the port. I do not know, but am sure there is more to the story and hope you will keep us up to date.

 

Joanie

 

But the pax could?:confused:

[sapper1]

I am guessing there was no HAL rep at the port because Victoria is not a normal embarkation port. If these passengers arranged to get aboard there instead of travelling to Vancouver it was most likely that the HAL reps would have come off the ship and taken them aboard to be processed at the front desk.

 

I know they can process arriving passengers at the front desk because I saw it being done on the Eurodam in Quebec City. The ship was staying overnight there and passengers who arrived in the evening were taken care of onboard the ship.

 

I have often thought that if we were to take a TA to Europe where Halifax was a stop on the way, I would get on there instead of travelling to Boston or NYC. After reading the OP I realized that would not be such a good idea.

[soakedbythesea]

We were on the Statendam in Seward on Sept 18 & 19 - leaving in rough seas the next day to get us to Juneau, missing College Fjord & Glacier Bay (most of us were on the cruise to see Glacier Bay), missed Haines and Ketchikan, but luckily did not miss Vancouver & a beautiful day there on Sept 25. We were compensated with a few free drinks, a bit extra champagne - now we are to receive 25% credit and be able to get 50% off a future cruise.

 

Many were unhappy, as the cost of flights, rooms, etc. was much more than the cruise cost, understanding about weather, but not so much on why we had to go to Juneau instead of Glacier Bay. Now waiting to see if we get 25% of the total or just the base price, not incl fees and taxes, which were as much as the price of the stateroom.

[terrascape]

We had a very unusual and strong wind and rain storm blow through the Northwest this past Sunday and Monday. Unusual meaning this was more like our winter storms. We were on the Zuiderdam on the Coastal cruise from Vancouver to San Diego. We got up Sunday morning to a SW gale of 50 knots and 16-18 foot seas. Ship riding very well, but at 1000 we had the report the port call in Astoria was cancelled due to the weather & the risk of the pilot boarding offshore. No surprise at all. The weather conditions in Astoria were lousy also. No big deal in missing Astoria, and we were all given a shipboard credit of about $ 20.00 per person for the missed port. By mid afternoon the weather had moderated & the sun came out to a beautiful sunny & calm day. The type of weather experienced in Alaska last week happens regularly November thru March, but rarely that severe in September. My associates in Alaska say that from August onward the weather has not been "normal".

[Krazy Kruizers]

Am I correct that the original itinerary was Vancouver to Florida? If so, is the ship making a stop at a distant foreign port after San Diego? Otherwise, as I understand it, that could cause a problem with those who missed the ship in Canada and were to board in San Diego.

 

Also, was HAL selling Victoria as an alternate embarkation port or did the 78 request an itinerary deviation? I assume that if they chose to board in Victoria after the voyage began in Vancouver they could expect to be more on their own than if the ship changed plans for the original port of embarkation.

 

Roy

 

Yes -- there are several foreign port stops as she heads to Ft Lauderdale.

It is a repositioning cruise.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Guests were ferried to Seattle and they spent the night at the SEATAC Airport Hilton. They will fly via Alaska Airlines nonstop to San Diego throughout the day tomorrow. The Sheraton Harbor and Marina will put them up until Thursday, where they will board at the new Broadway Pier for their cruise. All of this was covered by HAL. Their only out-of-pocket expenses would be for food. They were offered a cash payment if they chose to divert on their own. At least 58 will join the ship in San Diego. There is no problem with boarding or disembarking in Victoria instead of Vancouver nor with sailing from San Diego to Florida. The Panama Canal cruises stop at a distant foreign port along the way.

David

 

Thank you for this information.