SUPRISE-SUPRISE-YOUR CRUISE LOOKS LIKE ITS GOING

[the col.]

I called HAL late yesterday (Wed) to ask about our land/sea trip starting in Fairbanks on 14 May--then on to the cruise part starting on 17 May down to Vancouver --- I was shocked when she told me that right now it looks pretty GOOD that they will do this cruise--is that possible ? IF they do not cancel it--and I cancel it--will I only get FCC offered to me? Thanks for your guidance in this matter-- Sorry if this has been covered before--but the state/town I live in the lock down he just been continued until 30 April--

[kazu]

I don’t know how your cruise is going to go unless they change the itinerary.  All Canadian ports are closed to cruise ships and National Parks in Alaska are closed as well, I believe.

 

I suspect the agent you spoke to just doesn’t know what the decision will be.

 

The cruises seem to be cancelled about 30 days out so far, so I’d just hold tight and wait.

[bouhunter]

That cruise isn't sailing.  How on earth can ANYONE working for HAL think a ship is sailing in May?

[the col.]

When I asked her about the dates--our trip starts going to Denali on the 14th--which is in the window of there cruises that are canceled--she stated yes that is correct--but your cruise portion doesn't start until the 17th which falls outside the already canceled window--seems odd--its really troubling to us that they just can't make a decision--

[dave34]

22 minutes ago, the col. said:

When I asked her about the dates--our trip starts going to Denali on the 14th--which is in the window of there cruises that are canceled--she stated yes that is correct--but your cruise portion doesn't start until the 17th which falls outside the already canceled window--seems odd--its really troubling to us that they just can't make a decision--

HAL needs to stop jerking their customers around cancel the Alaska cruise’s until at least July. The Vancouver port is closed until July so quit telling lies to their customers. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I sure wish those HAL agents wound't get everyone excited about something that isn't going to happen.

 

Canadian ports are closed are closed until at least July 1.  All National are also closed.

 

And by law you have to stop at a foreign port.

[FlorenceItaly]

1 hour ago, bouhunter said:

That cruise isn't sailing.  How on earth can ANYONE working for HAL think a ship is sailing in May?

Pure SCRIPT by HAL.

[kennystwin]

I'm booked on the 17th southbound from Seward as well. There is no way this is happening. They already cancelled the northbound from Vancouver on the 10th, so how are they going to have a ship there? Do you thing they will send an empty ship to Seward to pick up the handful of people still confirmed? My flight to Anchorage was cancelled as well so that is going to add another wrinkle to those who might still want to go.

 

To those of you with land tours, who is going to be staffing those? They are largely dependent on seasonal workers, but Alaska is currently on lockdown and arriving travellers are subject to a 14 day quarantine, so I doubt anybody is heading up there for that.

 

This just ain't happening. I'm waiting for HAL to cancel to bet the best compensation. If they give me up to 48 hours before, I can wait. If they don't have an empty ship on its way up earlier in the week, I know it's not happening.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I agree with all the comments above. Until Canada opens their ports, Alaska cruises are a no-go.

 

I feel sorry for the reps. The official info from HAL needs updating and while, deep down, they know these May cruises aren't going, they can't say that until they're given the new "script."

 

[Takes Notes]

About the closed Canada ports......the Zaandam is scheduled for Canada/New England May through July. HAL has cancelled only the first two sailings on May 2 & 9. Rather and one Canada port which is typical for Alaska, these itinerarys have five Canada ports.

 

I'm waiting for my back-to-backs May 23 & May 30 to be cancelled. As was pointed out in an earlier post, HAL is doing this gradually, usually about 4 weeks or so out.

 

Stay healthy everyone!!! That is the most important thing!

 

[SilvertoGold]

HAL works piecemeal on this now.  Today, yes, because nothing official has been done to cancel this cruise.

 

The HAL rep said May 17 falls outside the already canceled window.  That's the point. They are working on this cancellation process.

 

OP:  Please let us know what happens!!

 

 

 

 

[VennDiagram]

This REALLY illustrates how valuable the posters on CC can be.  And proves once again that what one hears from the HAL phone reps may be incorrect.

[FlaMariner]

Wait 'em out......Get your FCC at 125% when they cancel and start planning for 2021.

 

(I've thought about booking those "not going to sail" cruises and coming out ahead with FCC's at 125%)

[T8NCruise]

5 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

This REALLY illustrates how valuable the posters on CC can be.  And proves once again that what one hears from the HAL phone reps may be incorrect.

 

More often than not!

[iancal]

Yet another reason why we deal with a TA instead of the cruise line direct.  

[Heartgrove]

15 minutes ago, iancal said:

Yet another reason why we deal with a TA instead of the cruise line direct.  

What is your travel agent telling you about your cruise?

[iancal]

We do not have a cruise booked.

 

But, our TA is smart enough to know that Canadian ports are closed until at least July.

 

She is also smart enough to know that we would never consider a May cruise.  Or that we would consider any travel in May regardless of whether we had cancellation fees or were going to forfeit our fares.  Nor would she ever recommend one! 

 

But then again, she is not an employee of the cruise line.

Edited April 9, 2020 by iancal

[EscapeFromConnecticut]

Suggestion: Don't blame the HAL front-line reps for misinformation in cases like this.

 

   Think about it - they're not going to

simply make stuff up. They're following a corporate script.

    Responsibility rests squarely with HAL execs - as well as the boiler-room managers in these customer care centers.

 

    My guess is a corporate suit decreed that the reps will use cheery or neutral tones to stretch this out as long as possible ... as cash-bleeding HAL hangs onto cruisers' deposit money. 

[Reagan0712]

3 hours ago, the col. said:

I called HAL late yesterday (Wed) to ask about our land/sea trip starting in Fairbanks on 14 May--then on to the cruise part starting on 17 May down to Vancouver --- I was shocked when she told me that right now it looks pretty GOOD that they will do this cruise--is that possible ? IF they do not cancel it--and I cancel it--will I only get FCC offered to me? Thanks for your guidance in this matter-- Sorry if this has been covered before--but the state/town I live in the lock down he just been continued until 30 April--

You called HAL last week and got one response.  Then called yesterday and got another response. I’m sure if you call again next week you’ll get a third response.  All of us on this particular cruise are frustrated with HAL’s lack of decision on the status of the cruise. (As we’ve noted on other threads.). We are still five weeks out and the people fielding phone calls have to rely on the decisions, or lack thereof, from upper management just like we do.  There is nothing any of us can do but wait, unless someone wants to go ahead and make the personal decision, on their own, to cancel now.  

[KidCruze]

If you are on facebook, please ask HAL on their page what their plans are for Alaska in May and June. You could also ask why they removed the travel advisory about Canada closing from their website. I am not on Facebook, but have heard corporations react to comment on their social media quickly.

[Reagan0712]

2 minutes ago, KidCruze said:

If you are on facebook, please ask HAL on their page what their plans are for Alaska in May and June. You could also ask why they removed the travel advisory about Canada closing from their website. I am not on Facebook, but have heard corporations react to comment on their social media quickly.

They do react quickly but not always accurately.  I specifically asked about this cruise on their twitter account.  Asked if since it was a land/sea with land starting May 14 and sea starting May 17 was it cancelled?   Within 20 minutes I received response that, yes,  it was cancelled. Subsequently, spoke with rep on phone after receiving check in email and was told that it was not cancelled.

[npcl]

The  problem with customer service is that they can only tell customers what their computer tells them.  If they go outside of that information they will probably become another person filing for unemployment.

 

The cruise line has only canceled through date X. They have to stick to that information.

[iancal]

It seems that it is more of a gong show than is usually the case.

Edited April 9, 2020 by iancal

[USN59-79]

I wonder how many times a company can lie to its loyal customers (and the customer knows he is being lied to) and expect the customer to return to the company.  This sounds like something out of Marketing 101.

[Boatdrill]

FWIW, Carnival Cruise Lines (not corp) has announced their start up dates to resume cruising. Most are in mid-May in the Caribbean.  Their Alaska sailing starts July 7 from Seattle.

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/22755-when-carnival-cruise-line-ships-are-expected-to-start-sailing-again.html