Corona Virus Response

[sc.cruiser]

I just canceled my March 14 sailing on the Westerdamn. After days of discussion, Holland America would not in anyway try to help in this unprecedented event. They offered $100 on-board credit per person,  a 20% future cruise credit, but only if you took their revised cruise mostly of uninteresting Japanese ports of call. The original sailing included Nagasaki the revised does not, nor does it sail to Hiroshima. Any good sailing for Japan should include either of the these two ports of call.

 

My only option was to cancel the cruise and loose 10% of the money I paid.

 

The management of Holland America and the Carnival group in general should look more closely at their response to the corona-virus pandemic. Their current response is totally unacceptable. They have lost a three star mariner.The Carnival group has lost a customer. 

[awhcruiser]

 

[MAVIP]

1 hour ago, sc.cruiser said:

They have lost a three star mariner.The Carnival group has lost a customer. 

And this Cruise Critic board got your maiden speech. 

[cruzn single]

Sorry you felt this re-worked itinerary will not work for you.  I still look fondly back at our  visit to Pusan, South Korea in 2011 when HAL had to re-do the itinerary for our Volendam  cruise because of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.  Granted, I didn’t care for our Russian ports, or the 6 days of a force 12 storm on the Bering Sea, but we made lemonade out of our lemons.  We were disappointed in missing all of our Japanese ports, but that just means I still need to schedule another cruise to that area.

 

Perhaps another itinerary will pop up and you can sail to your desired ports on another cruise line.

 

[HamOp]

4 hours ago, MAVIP said:

And this Cruise Critic board got your maiden speech. 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  See you've wasted no time being a critic.

[J&Dhighdesert]

I rarely respond to a post, but  I couldn’t help putting in my two cents.  We have been to three different ports in Japan.  So much to see no matter where you go.  The people are always welcoming and helpful. Of course, we have missed ports that we really  wanted to see.  The safety of the ship and its passengers comes first.

 

[ottahand7]

Curious about what will be happening with Hong Kong and Shanghai going forward.  The president of the American Airlines Pilot Union said that HK should be avoided this morning on CNBC.   

[Viv0828]

6 hours ago, HamOp said:

10 hours ago, MAVIP said:

And this Cruise Critic board got your maiden speech. 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  See you've wasted no time being a critic.

 

wow! some people here sound really bitter when a person doesn't want to sail into asia at this time and they would like the cruise company to take some of the responsibility.

[sc.cruiser]

I want to thank everyone for their comments to my post. I wish this wasn't my first and I hope it won't be my last. The post was the result of over a week of phone calls trying to find a way to select another HAL cruise with some consideration for the trouble. 

 

I have found a wonderful substitute cruise from Portugal to Buenas Aries which combines Europe, a trans Atlantic crossing, with South America at a reasonable cost on another cruise line.

 

Finally, I too have experienced having a port of call switched after missing one port and another port canceled due to weather. The cruise line involved over night set up a call to Crete which turned out to be one of the most memorable ports I've visited.

 

The whole point is that customer service is the key to customer satisfaction and retention.

[sc.cruiser]

5 minutes ago, Viv0828 said:

 

wow! some people here sound really bitter when a person doesn't want to sail into asia at this time and they would like the cruise company to take some of the responsibility.

Thanks for the support. I do understand his point. I should have started commenting on the many great experiences that I have had. Like the Christmas Cruise on the Westerdam, or the back to back Australia/New Zealand cruises last Christmas on the Norwegian Jade which was absolutely a great experience. Then there was the excursion to Pompeii where our tour guide took us through the back entrance so for the first half of our tour our group was alone, no crowd. 

 

I will be for diligent in tell of the good things that happen not just the bad experiences. No longer will I be a lurker, but a contributor. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

 

Glad you have found a cruise that you will like on another cruise line.

 

We have also had ports cancelled for whatever reason and sometimes new ones substituted.  Some times we ended up with more sea days.  The cruise lines can't always get the ports changed at the drop of a hat.  Ports that they may like to go may already have been booked by another cruise line.  And ports can only handle so many ships.