Nieuw Amsterdam Group Booking - HUGE - Eliminates fixed dining and cuts open seating

[sevenseasnomad]

That in retrospect was a huge red warning light clue. I never made the connection. Thanks for alerting us to this. However, this is not fair notice to regular passengers of this huge block of affinity group passengers for that particular voyage.

 

Will HAL, at any level, disclose up front whether there is a large group commitment on any cruise?

 

In our experience, no. In 2011, we were booked on B2B New England/Canada out of Boston. Our first week was cancelled due to Maasdam being "totally booked by a corporate entity." Since I couldn't change my vacation dates, we cancelled completely. Sadly, we've never taken that cruise to New England/Canada.

 

On a Caribbean cruise, a huge church group was aboard. They took over several public spaces, such as the pool area on the evening that was supposed to be a line-dancing party. The party was cancelled, but we didn't find out until we showed up expecting to dance only to be met by "private party" signs. Passengers not associated with the group weren't allowed into the area. On that same cruise, the Dutch high tea was cancelled because the group used the dining room during that time for one of their events. When I asked at the front desk about the high tea, I was informed that it wouldn't occur because of this group using the dining room.

 

So, yes, I can sympathize with OP. So sorry the group had a negative impact on your cruise.

[Baddabing]

In our experience, no. In 2011, we were booked on B2B New England/Canada out of Boston. Our first week was cancelled due to Maasdam being "totally booked by a corporate entity." Since I couldn't change my vacation dates, we cancelled completely. Sadly, we've never taken that cruise to New England/Canada.

 

On a Caribbean cruise, a huge church group was aboard. They took over several public spaces, such as the pool area on the evening that was supposed to be a line-dancing party. The party was cancelled, but we didn't find out until we showed up expecting to dance only to be met by "private party" signs. Passengers not associated with the group weren't allowed into the area. On that same cruise, the Dutch high tea was cancelled because the group used the dining room during that time for one of their events. When I asked at the front desk about the high tea, I was informed that it wouldn't occur because of this group using the dining room.

 

So, yes, I can sympathize with OP. So sorry the group had a negative impact on your cruise.

That is impossible, I spoke with two HAL representatives today. They assured me that this sort of thing does not occur on Holland America cruises. They also said that they would not close off a public area just got the use of a private group. Just pass me the kool-aid.

[Boatdrill]

I will be calling Holland America tomorrow since we did originally booked through HAL. They should have mentioned that there was a very large group on this cruise. .

 

 

Hopefully HAL will be able to mitigate the damage they've done. What a mess !

[Boatdrill]

Oh oh. That was not a good thing to say about the OP. HAL should train their people to give better responses.

 

Do you honestly think the HAL reps would use the term "cry baby" ?

[bUU]

I don't have a pile of vacation time and will not gamble my precious time off by risking that this will happen again. It would take something quite extraordinary for us to book another HAL cruise.

That leaves a quandary though: What to do instead? Every one of the cruise lines in the same price range have such incidents relayed in their respective forums. The specific nature of the issues vary, of course (though perhaps they all eventually show up if you wait around long enough), but they all have such issues. At what point does "the devil you know" prevail?

[blizzardboy]

This impacted everything on our cruise. The group were not drinkers or bar users so bar staff saw a drastic impact on their income. For everything else, - shows, lido dining, etc there were line ups. There was palpable tension between the 2 passenger groups.

We loved HAL in the first week but unsure if we can ever trust them with our cruising dollars again.

I suggest you write a letter (not an email) to Mr. Ashford's office. Start with the positives, i.e., your first week, and include compliments where due. Then move on to how your second week was disrupted and how you were treated as though your happiness was secondary to that of the charter passengers. You should ask for "appropriate compensation due to the extremely negative impact this had on our cruise". They probably will offer you a future cruise credit.

Remember, polite discourse with a firm demand gets one farther than a rant.

[Liz54]

That is impossible, I spoke with two HAL representatives today. They assured me that this sort of thing does not occur on Holland America cruises. They also said that they would not close off a public area just got the use of a private group. Just pass me the kool-aid.

 

Sorry, the kool aid is gone. The HAL staff drank it all!

[kimgeo]

First I need to say that it has taken some time to cool downafter this trip-but now I think I can write a lucid comment.

 

We are longtime HAL customers. We are 4 stars and had splurged to book an SAsuite-for the first time. We were listedas late fixed dinner (the only choice we ever make because we really enjoymeeting new people) but we were switched to ‘as you wish’ withoutexplanation. Our TA told us that basedon our mariner status and suite we would have no problem switching when we gotonboard. Additionally-we did know thatthere was a group on the ship-but we had no problem with that. We have met some nice people who travel withgroups-and we met some nice people with this group.

 

Our main issue is with the way HAL handled this problem. We were given no notice before weboarded. When we went to the front deskto discuss the problem and we asked to speak to the manager-we were told “We’resorry, but there is nothing we can do”. No one responded to our written comment card where we asked questionsabout the policy and the likelihood of this happening on future cruises, and noone has responded to our on-line survey. We have asked our TA to supply us a name at HAL to correspond with-butwe’re still waiting for a response.

 

Clearly HAL does not value our business and seems to belooking at a business model where they cater to large groups. I realize that we cannot affect thatdecision-but feel people should be forewarned if they plan to book a trip withHAL and are not part of a large group.

[sail7seas]

Oh oh. That was not a good thing to say about the OP. HAL should train their people to give better responses.

They should train the staff in Seattle to not ever book a group that large on any ahip. If some reoup wants that many cabins, they should have to charter the ship. No thought or conc ern seem s to hav e been given to all those payiing guests on board who were not a part of the group and while I am atait..... What thought was given to th crew an officers who had to cope with the unhapapi8ness on board?. Seattle office permitted the booking but left it to the crew on b oard to cope. How does one define greed in such cifcumstance?

 

vey bad !!

[candbgirl]

That is impossible, I spoke with two HAL representatives today. They assured me that this sort of thing does not occur on Holland America cruises. They also said that they would not close off a public area just got the use of a private group. Just pass me the kool-aid.

 

 

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or serious. Which is it so I can ponder your answer.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[VTcruisenut]

Just because I was curious, I went out to Inspiration Cruises website.............has anyone else notices it is extremely similar to Holland America's both in set-up, color scheme and font? Could be a subsidiary of HAL? Or maybe this is common knowledge and I missed the boat? LOL!

[OVgirl]

The afternoon tea on this cruise was only offered in the Ocean Bar. There was no Dutch high tea or Indonesian tea in the diningroom.

[OlsSalt]

The afternoon tea on this cruise was only offered in the Ocean Bar. There was no Dutch high tea or Indonesian tea in the diningroom.

 

That was where tea was offered on our recent non-group NA cruise. I thought it looked more gracious, but crowded, so it had a very different format than seated at dining tables in the MDR. Sorry to learn they took away the two specialty teas. We had access to the Neptune Lounge on that cruise, so we did not pay much attention to some of our normal ship favorites - like the specialty teas this time.

[Jemima]

While I'd prefer not to have big groups on my cruise, I have been part of a large group on two cruises. Neither cruise was on HAL. One cruise our group of several hundred was assigned to fixed seating in a portion of the dining room. The other cruise we had open seating with no group seating. I think that the assigned group seating worked better for both our group and for the other passengers. Most of us wanted to discuss genealogy at dinner. With open seating it was uncomfortable trying unsuccessfully not to discuss genealogy with "regular" passengers. I just think it is usually better for everyone for a large group to be seated together.

[Liz54]

While I'd prefer not to have big groups on my cruise, I have been part of a large group on two cruises. Neither cruise was on HAL. One cruise our group of several hundred was assigned to fixed seating in a portion of the dining room. The other cruise we had open seating with no group seating. I think that the assigned group seating worked better for both our group and for the other passengers. Most of us wanted to discuss genealogy at dinner. With open seating it was uncomfortable trying unsuccessfully not to discuss genealogy with "regular" passengers. I just think it is usually better for everyone for a large group to be seated together.

Except when it denies access to the main dining room after 6PM for hundreds of passengers who have paid for that feature. Sending them to the buffet is NOT Ok!

[DocJohnB]

Do you honestly think the HAL reps would use the term "cry baby" ?

 

Absolutely! Or similar words/phrases!

[bUU]

Clearly HAL does not value our business and seems to belooking at a business model where they cater to large groups.

I think that's a bad assumption. It is almost surely the wrong conclusion to draw from your unfortunate circumstance.

[summersigh]

The afternoon tea on this cruise was only offered in the Ocean Bar. There was no Dutch high tea or Indonesian tea in the diningroom.

On our Dec 2016 cruise on the Zuiderdam daily afternoon tea was offered only in the Ocean Bar. There were no big groups on our cruise. :)

 

 

I did enjoy tea in the Ocean Bar - it felt more like tea in somebody's parlor than the dining room.:hot-beverage:

[sevenseasnomad]

That is impossible, I spoke with two HAL representatives today. They assured me that this sort of thing does not occur on Holland America cruises. They also said that they would not close off a public area just got the use of a private group. Just pass me the kool-aid.

 

HAL may have changed their policy, but on these two cruises public areas WERE closed. It was very disappointing that events we had looked forward to were cancelled. It happened.

[mancunian]

I am writing this purely in the hope that HAL reads these boards.

 

They can say what they like at Seattle but the crew and passengers know exactly what happened.

 

We are four star cruisers with 16 cruises under our belts and another one booked. We have liked HAL very much over the years, but if this happened to us on a cruise we would NEVER sail with them again. There is no way we would either be prepared to eat before 6 pm and even more certainly we would not eat in the lido. We never have done and are not likely to start now. HAL need to be very careful on this or they will be in great trouble. And what happened to the great promise "as you wish dining".

[AV8rix]

I am writing this purely in the hope that HAL reads these boards.

 

Others have commented that they know that Seattle DOES monitor this forum. However, even if they didn't you KNOW that the crew of that miserable cruise will tell corporate what happened.

 

I was on a Panama Canal repo on Amsterdam in the spring of 2015. She had just finished drydock after her World Cruise and was repositioning for the start of the Alask season. I was on all the way from FLL to Seattle (because I live there) so I had the misfortune of having to endure the short coastal segment from San Diego to Seattle.

 

It's been discussed in other threads how the nature of a "normal" cruise changes during a short segment. Well, on this one the evening of the San Diego boarding was unfortunately a scheduled Formal night. Those short-segment folks showed up in the MDR in unspeakably HORRIBLE attire -- and there were just too many of them to be turned away by the DRM and his staff. This caused many of the long-segment folks to vent their outrage on the DRM. I felt so sorry for him that I didn't join in the protest. However, I certainly expressed my feelings about it on the comment card and my post-cruise survey. It was not too long after that that "Formal" was changed to "Gala" and I've since been told by others that Gala nights are no longer scheduled on the short coastal segments. I'm positive that the DRM reported the situation to Corporate as soon as Amsterdam tied up in Seattle...if he hadn't already fired off an email to them immediately following the debacle.

 

Disclaimer: I'm not implying that the decision to change from Formal to Gala was precipitated by that cruise alone but perhaps the deluge of complaints by pax (AND crew) generated by that awful night probably convinced Corporate that the change was needed.

[kazu]

Others have commented that they know that Seattle DOES monitor this forum. However, even if they didn't you KNOW that the crew of that miserable cruise will tell corporate what happened.

 

I was on a Panama Canal repo on Amsterdam in the spring of 2015. She had just finished drydock after her World Cruise and was repositioning for the start of the Alask season. I was on all the way from FLL to Seattle (because I live there) so I had the misfortune of having to endure the short coastal segment from San Diego to Seattle.

 

It's been discussed in other threads how the nature of a "normal" cruise changes during a short segment. Well, on this one the evening of the San Diego boarding was unfortunately a scheduled Formal night. Those short-segment folks showed up in the MDR in unspeakably HORRIBLE attire -- and there were just too many of them to be turned away by the DRM and his staff. This caused many of the long-segment folks to vent their outrage on the DRM. I felt so sorry for him that I didn't join in the protest. However, I certainly expressed my feelings about it on the comment card and my post-cruise survey. It was not too long after that that "Formal" was changed to "Gala" and I've since been told by others that Gala nights are no longer scheduled on the short coastal segments. I'm positive that the DRM reported the situation to Corporate as soon as Amsterdam tied up in Seattle...if he hadn't already fired off an email to them immediately following the debacle.

 

Disclaimer: I'm not implying that the decision to change from Formal to Gala was precipitated by that cruise alone but perhaps the deluge of complaints by pax (AND crew) generated by that awful night probably convinced Corporate that the change was needed.

 

 

Susan, I believe that that is true on no Gala nights for those cruises. There were none on our 2015 nor 2016 sailing for the coastal portion on the Westerdam.

[geoherb]

We sailed on the Zuiderdam last month. There was a small group that took over the Hudson room most of the cruise. They also had a private pool party one evening. Fortunately, they were only a couple of dozen people and did not interfere with our enjoyment of the ship.

 

DH and I also like dining at second seating. I'd be royally ticked off not to be able to eat in the dining room at a normal time.

[david,Mississauga]

I was on this cruise and knew about the group ahead of time thanks to this forum. I emailed my PCC and asked about dining and she told me it wouldn't be a problem, especially since I was in a Neptune Suite. It even went as far as the concierge letting me book a standing reservation for the MDR all week when we boarded and then going the MDR only to rudely be told we could not eat and whoever made my reservation was wrong. I was then told to go to the buffet because it has all the same food (untrue, it only has some of the same things and it doesn't even compare to a MDR experience).

...

 

How very "down market" to tell passengers who have paid for a Neptune suite that they should eat in a cafeteria. One of the listed perks to entice people to pay for a suite is: "Priority dining and seating requests." I suspect even the HAL cheerleaders would find this unacceptable.

[Cruiz'nBaers]

Except when it denies access to the main dining room after 6PM for hundreds of passengers who have paid for that feature. Sending them to the buffet is NOT Ok!

Amen to that. You paid to be able to dine in the MDR during HAL's advertised times and weren't able to do so. I would have been extremely upset. You didn't get what you paid for. Inspiration Cruises should absolutely be charter cruises.