I'm in trouble ;)

[gknep]

My parents are long time NCL cruisers and I convinced them to give HAL a try. They were originally booked on the first Alaska sailing of the year on the Eurodam for 2020 (cancelled) then 2021 (cancelled). Today they finally get to board the ship and the HAL shuttle from the airport took them to the wrong port in Seattle. 66 instead of 91. I have the feeling they are going to blame me. 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

11 minutes ago, gknep said:

My parents are long time NCL cruisers and I convinced them to give HAL a try. They were originally booked on the first Alaska sailing of the year on the Eurodam for 2020 (cancelled) then 2021 (cancelled). Today they finally get to board the ship and the HAL shuttle from the airport took them to the wrong port in Seattle. 66 instead of 91. I have the feeling they are going to blame me. 

[FOPMan]

Did they make their ship?

[DaveOKC]

46 minutes ago, gknep said:

My parents are long time NCL cruisers and I convinced them to give HAL a try. They were originally booked on the first Alaska sailing of the year on the Eurodam for 2020 (cancelled) then 2021 (cancelled). Today they finally get to board the ship and the HAL shuttle from the airport took them to the wrong port in Seattle. 66 instead of 91. I have the feeling they are going to blame me. 

OMG - how in the world did a HAL SHUTTLE make this kind of mistake?  These piers are not even close together!  I guess it shows that taking a early in the season cruise is not always the best idea.

 

[zgscl]

20 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

OMG - how in the world did a HAL SHUTTLE make this kind of mistake?  These piers are not even close together!  I guess it shows that taking a early in the season cruise is not always the best idea.

 

That is pretty bad...I am sure the ships don't look anything like each other either. 

[gknep]

They finally made it on the ship. They told me the shuttle driver was not the brightest bulb in the box. When they got to the correct pier HAL's system had shut down and the lines were a mess. It was quite the comedy of errors. I hope the cruise itself is better than the embarkation process has been. They have reservations later this evening at the Pinnacle Grill. I told her to order a Mariner cocktail at the first bar they come to.

 

[zgscl]

1 hour ago, gknep said:

My parents are long time NCL cruisers and I convinced them to give HAL a try. They were originally booked on the first Alaska sailing of the year on the Eurodam for 2020 (cancelled) then 2021 (cancelled). Today they finally get to board the ship and the HAL shuttle from the airport took them to the wrong port in Seattle. 66 instead of 91. I have the feeling they are going to blame me. 

I hope things improve when they get on the Eurodam. Please let us know! Fingers crossed for you. 

[zgscl]

1 minute ago, gknep said:

They finally made it on the ship. They told me the shuttle driver was not the brightest bulb in the box. When they got to the correct pier HAL's system had shut down and the lines were a mess. It was quite the comedy of errors. I hope the cruise itself is better than the embarkation process has been. They have reservations later this evening at the Pinnacle Grill. I told her to order a Mariner cocktail at the first bar they come to.

 

Oh dear. Sometimes when things go wrong like this it is actually pretty funny. I remember a couple trips where it was just everything that can go wrong did go wrong. On one we had a major flight delay on every single flight. Not weather. Totally unrelated. We got on the last plane home and they announced that it would be at least a 3 hour delay because of something with the wheels and Delta didn't have the right jack and had to borrow it from United which required all sorts of approvals. We burst out laughing. It was just too much. 

 

I think they may be having IT issues. They were having problems when I got off Zuiderdam on Wednesday, but it was the onboard system. No idea how linked they are. I hope a couple cocktails will help them relax and get things back on the right track. 

[RuthC]

"Ladies and gentlemen, the bad news is I have brought you to the wrong pier. The good news is it's on the way to the HAL pier! 
Sit back, relax, and enjoy your free tour of Seattle." 

[KroozNut]

3 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

 

Be wary if you are considering this package. I was very disappointed in the one I purchased for our recent Zuiderdam sailing as a surprise for DW.

 

The package is described as a 'bottle of champagne, balloons and a ribbon' on embarkation day, but our experience was not even close to that. When we arrived at our cabin, there was a warm bottle of champagne sitting on the desk, no Bon Voyage ribbon and no balloons. Huge disappointment!

 

When I complained to guest services they said that they 'don't do ribbons and balloons anymore', and they didn't want to hear my argument that I paid for all of that and didn't get it.

 

All I got was an apology... no refund because as far as they were concerned the cheap bottle of warm champagne fulfilled the package that I ordered.... WRONG!

 

Oh, and yes, I did let them know about this on our post-cruise survey..

 

[Sir PMP]

18 hours ago, gknep said:

My parents are long time NCL cruisers and I convinced them to give HAL a try. They were originally booked on the first Alaska sailing of the year on the Eurodam for 2020 (cancelled) then 2021 (cancelled). Today they finally get to board the ship and the HAL shuttle from the airport took them to the wrong port in Seattle. 66 instead of 91. I have the feeling they are going to blame me. 

Yes, you're done..

 

[ger_77]

Seriously, why would they blame you for something that's out of your control.  Let's just hope they have a great time after the initial hiccups and chalk it up to travel experiences.

[Troubador222]

It should not be that big a deal. The piers are literally 5 minutes away from each other. While I am only a first time cruiser getting ready to go this fall, I drive a semi and the company I work for delivers supplies for RCL, coming from Florida to the west coast ports. I have been to both piers many times. Hope your folks enjoy their cruise!

[fatcat04]

On 4/30/2022 at 4:03 PM, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Well played my friend, well played. 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

On 4/30/2022 at 6:01 PM, KroozNut said:

 

Be wary if you are considering this package. I was very disappointed in the one I purchased for our recent Zuiderdam sailing as a surprise for DW.

 

The package is described as a 'bottle of champagne, balloons and a ribbon' on embarkation day, but our experience was not even close to that. When we arrived at our cabin, there was a warm bottle of champagne sitting on the desk, no Bon Voyage ribbon and no balloons. Huge disappointment!

 

When I complained to guest services they said that they 'don't do ribbons and balloons anymore', and they didn't want to hear my argument that I paid for all of that and didn't get it.

 

All I got was an apology... no refund because as far as they were concerned the cheap bottle of warm champagne fulfilled the package that I ordered.... WRONG!

 

Oh, and yes, I did let them know about this on our post-cruise survey..

 

According the HAL Headquarters - balloons and ribbons are still happening.   This email was  today.

 

[KroozNut]

33 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

According the HAL Headquarters - balloons and ribbons are still happening.   This email was  today.

 

 

Sounds to me like yet another disconnect between Seattle and what is actually going on in the fleet. Because as I said earlier, Our Bon Voyage Package contained nothing but a warm bottle of champagne sitting on the desk of our cabin when we arrived; No balloons or ribbon(s). When I 'inquired' about the discrepancy at guest services, they said that 'they no longer do balloons and ribbons'. That's it... no refund, just an apology.

Now, could this have just been a 'one-off' with our particular ship (Zuiderdam), and other guests on other ships are getting the entire advertised package? Possibly, but I have no way to confirm that..   

[The-Inside-Cabin]

14 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

 

Sounds to me like yet another disconnect between Seattle and what is actually going on in the fleet. Because as I said earlier, Our Bon Voyage Package contained nothing but a warm bottle of champagne sitting on the desk of our cabin when we arrived; No balloons or ribbon(s). When I 'inquired' about the discrepancy at guest services, they said that 'they no longer do balloons and ribbons'. That's it... no refund, just an apology.

Now, could this have just been a 'one-off' with our particular ship (Zuiderdam), and other guests on other ships are getting the entire advertised package? Possibly, but I have no way to confirm that..   

Your earlier post was why I sent the question into Seattle - I wanted to see what was the official story.   

 

Surprised they didn't give you a refund since the service advertised clearly wasn't  delivered. 

 

I have seen service gaps at three levels - From Seattle to the Ship, from Ship senior management to the employees  and from employees  to the guests.  

 

HAL needs to work on the alignment of the service offering.   

 

I ordered the Hors D'oeuvre Plate once - Here is the description

 

HORS D'OEUVRE PLATE
Enjoy a plate of Hors d'oeuvres in your stateroom. Features twelve assorted appetizers.

 

Here is what I got

 

After I complained that the deal was 12 and  3 isn't 12.

Here is what they sent me - but I had to make a minor fuss

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by The-Inside-Cabin

[Florida_gal_50]

10 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Your earlier post was why I sent the question into Seattle - I wanted to see what was the official story.   

 

Surprised they didn't give you a refund since the service advertised clearly wasn't  delivered. 

That happens an absolute ton.  Two things that come to mind are cabanas and club orange.  They both have a number of items on the list I’ve never seen or haven’t seen since the pandemic. These are bigger items, much more than a balloon or ribbons that might cost a dollar if you rounded up 50 cents.

Edited May 6, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[KroozNut]

2 hours ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Surprised they didn't give you a refund since the service advertised clearly wasn't  delivered.

 

Seems pretty simple, right? Yeah, they didn't want to hear it.. 😕

[Florida_gal_50]

I’ve gotten no refund for missing items from club orange or the cabanas either.  That would be substantial cash.  The special event that we are supposed to get was worth $150 iirc.  That’s  worth complaining about and getting money back.  I haven’t because I know it will be nothing but excuses and my time is worth more than that.

[zgscl]

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’ve gotten no refund for missing items from club orange or the cabanas either.  That would be substantial cash.  The special event that we are supposed to get was worth $150 iirc.  That’s  worth complaining about and getting money back.  I haven’t because I know it will be nothing but excuses and my time is worth more than that.

I always find it funny. All of these things have such great retail value when they are marketing something yet it very quickly evaporates when they don't deliver it and you ask for it to be refunded 🤣

[ski ww]

It seems to be a disconnect between head office & those that actual delivery the goods or not! Sounds like there is a lot of the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is suppose to know or do. 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, ski ww said:

It seems to be a disconnect between head office & those that actual delivery the goods or not! Sounds like there is a lot of the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is suppose to know or do. 

There is an old saying, "You take care of the little things, and the big things will follow." You wonder when a cruise line can't take care of these little things, what else they might fail at.

[Gsel]

Not only HAL that has this "problem"! I ordered gifts for my grandchildren on RCCL over a month ago. Never delivered. No money back and no apology. I am exhausted trying to actually speak with a live person. 

[Florida_gal_50]

24 minutes ago, Gsel said:

Not only HAL that has this "problem"! I ordered gifts for my grandchildren on RCCL over a month ago. Never delivered. No money back and no apology. I am exhausted trying to actually speak with a live person. 

Would you be able to dispute that with your credit card?  Missing bits a pieces is one thing, missing altogether is another.