HAL Cancelled My Cruise!! Options?

[cruisequeen4ever]

That’s very disappointing, I know, but I think you’re actually pretty fortunate they gave you fairly generous OBC, that it’s a common cruise itinerary, and that you didn’t have non refundable airfare yet. You could probably easily switch to another cruise line for that same week. Sure you’d miss out on the OBC, but maybe your overall fare would be better. I hope you find a good replacement!

[jkgourmet]

On 3/12/2019 at 1:31 PM, RocketMan275 said:

The $75 seems to be consistent with what I've seen in the past when cruise lines cancel a cruise for a charter this far in advance.   

Yes, I understand your frustration.  I've had it happen as well.

 

Actually, NCL changed one of our cruises only 6 months in advance - from 8 days to 12 days, two weeks earlier, with NYC departure and ending in Canada (two one way plane tickets are more expensive than a RT to NYC.)   No OBC was offered.  Nothing was offered - just a refund of our deposit, and a transfer of the perks we originally had.  We cancelled.

[wombatKY]

Maybe this will make you feel a little better @CTOM, one year my cruise was cancelled with only 3 days notice! We were within minutes of leaving our home for a 2 day drive to the port. I was only able to find out about the cancellation by checking the boards just one more time as I waited for my husband to get home from work. Probably the only time I've ever been happy he was late as I would have been more upset to find this out sitting in a hotel room that evening.

 

I did eventually receive official notification and I was offered compensation. The compensation was fairly particular and it didn't quite make up for the unique cruise we missed out on, nor did it cover the cost of the vacation we had to cobble together last minute which didn't come close to replacing that lost cruise. It was very upsetting but thankfully, that's the last time it's happened to me.

 

[Alberta Quilter]

12 hours ago, wombatKY said:

Maybe this will make you feel a little better @CTOM, one year my cruise was cancelled with only 3 days notice! We were within minutes of leaving our home for a 2 day drive to the port. I was only able to find out about the cancellation by checking the boards just one more time as I waited for my husband to get home from work. Probably the only time I've ever been happy he was late as I would have been more upset to find this out sitting in a hotel room that evening.

 

I did eventually receive official notification and I was offered compensation. The compensation was fairly particular and it didn't quite make up for the unique cruise we missed out on, nor did it cover the cost of the vacation we had to cobble together last minute which didn't come close to replacing that lost cruise. It was very upsetting but thankfully, that's the last time it's happened to me.

 

Wow.  That must have been awful.  Why was it canceled at the last minute?  Was it mechanical issues with the ship?  I hope you were able to take that unique itinerary at a later date.

[wombatKY]

4 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Wow.  That must have been awful.  Why was it canceled at the last minute?  Was it mechanical issues with the ship?  I hope you were able to take that unique itinerary at a later date.

 

It was awful! I confess to being a little "emotional" for a few days. We did finally get to do the unique itinerary.

 

It was my first and last experience with booking a cruise right out of dry dock! I had always heard that those cruises were risky and had been prepared to contend with some ongoing work, but I'd never heard of one being cancelled.

 

They had evidently planned extensive interior finishes on the ship as she sailed back to their US port but hit days of very rough weather and were unable to complete the work. They just waited too long, IMO, before informing their passengers. 

[joekerstef]

We had a cruise planned on Veendam in August 2018, a unique I think 11 day Canada itinerary. HAL cancelled this a month or two after we booked (May 2017). They offered us $50 OBC each and four substitute itineraries, none of which we liked. We had as I recall two months to let them know what we wanted to do. We finally decided that we'd like to try the 11 day partial PanCan on Zuiderdam in December 2018, not one of the substitutes. HAL still gave us the $50 "sorry for screwing up your plans" OBC as well as the OBC they had given us for booking the original cruise while on board. We use a HAL PCC not a TA. Still would love to do the Canada itinerary if it ever comes up again but the change of plans worked out pretty well for us.

[Hawaiidan]

On 3/12/2019 at 3:23 PM, CTOM said:

Thank to all who replied.   I've calmed down somewhat, now that I see this is somewhat common (but still unfortunate).

Hey  if i tmakes you feel better  I had a line a bit upscale from  HAL  cancel me the same way,   I was offered some money like $150  and booked on a similar cruise 14 days after the first.....Then 45 days passed ant they AGAIN cancelled  the cruise, fully paid.   No nothing  It  cost me over $650 in cancel costs ( Air  hotel etc.)       So it does happen and many lines are favoring charters over individuals...

Good luck and keep flexable

[RocketMan275]

Some background information.  Cruise lines will often enter into a contingency contract with a travel group for a charter.  The Travel Group can sell cabins and if they sell enough, then they will take over the cruise. If they do not sell enough, they can let the contingency contract lapse and the cruise will proceed as if nothing happens.  The problem with this is that the cruise line and the travel group will both be selling cabins at the same time.   Either the passengers booked directly with the cruise line or the travel group will be disappointed.  I had this happen to me with a Holland cruise.  I had booked a very nice cabin at a good price when I noticed that a travel group (Jazz Cruise) was advertising a full charter on the same ship and on the same dates.  I cancelled my cruise and switched to another cruise line.