HAL just canceled our June 14th 2022 Triple Denali trip

[KirkNC]

Just got the email from Gus

 

Dear Travel Partner, We are very sorry to inform you that due to staffing shortages affecting the entire hospitality industry, we must regretfully cancel select 2022 Yukon & Denali Cruisetours. Your clients’ affected bookings are listed at the end of this letter. We encourage you to reach out to your clients as soon as possible to advise them of the cancellation of their Cruisetour, as we know the news will spread quickly once it is publicly announced. We are waiting until later 2:00 PM Pacific Time this afternoon (Friday, June 3) to send our email notification to your clients in order to give you time to contact them. Booked guests will receive a refund of all monies paid to Holland America Line to the original form of purchase. In addition, each guest will receive a Future Cruise Credit of 100% of the Cruisetour fare paid, which can be used on a new booking for any future voyage or Cruisetour that is booked by and sails by December 31, 2023. Please see below for terms and conditions for the Future Cruise Credit.  Our Future Cruise Credit program has been expanded and these credits can now be used for non-cruise fare items such as flexible Flight Ease flights (added before final payment), pre- and post-cruise packages, or standard or platinum Cancellation Protection Plan coverage for all guests on the new booking. We hope these credits will enable your clients to join us on another Alaska cruise this year or explore Alaska with us in 2023. We regret we are unable to offer a replacement Cruisetour option for 2022 due to the staffing issues which have resulted in reduced capacity on several journeys. As a further gesture of goodwill for your clients’ loyalty to Holland America Line, they will also receive $200 USD per-person Shipboard Credit on a new booking for any future voyage or Cruisetour that is booked by and sails by December 31, 2023. This offer will be in addition to any other promotion or incentives available. The credit may be used toward all purchases in the bars, boutiques, photo gallery and art auctions, as well as specialty dining, spa treatments and shore excursions. In the event any portion of the cancelled Cruisetour's fare was paid using a previously issued Future Cruise Credit, that FCC will be returned to their Mariner Account and extended to be used by December 31, 2023. Non-cruise fare purchases through Holland America Line such as Flight Ease air, pre- and post-cruise hotels and transfers, shore excursions, dining, gifts, and spa treatments will also be refunded to the original form of purchase. If any portion of your clients’ travel was not booked through Holland America Line, other booking and cancellation conditions and policies may apply. We recognize that this change may cause your clients to incur unexpected expenses, such as air change fees. Reimbursement of reasonable non-refundable expenses will be considered on a case-by-case basis. An Out-of-Pocket Expense Reimbursement Form is available ; please complete this form and submit it, along with any relevant receipts and documentation, for review by our corporate office. If they purchased independent vacation travel insurance, please submit a claim through their carrier before submitting a reimbursement request for denied or partially paid claims. Holland America Line understands and values the role our travel partners play in our success. Commission paid on paid-in-full bookings will not be recalled, and Future Cruise Credits are commissionable when applied to the cruise or Cruisetour fare of a new booking. Please do not cancel any affected bookings yourself through POLAR Online before our automated process runs, as this is necessary to protect commissions. Bookings cancelled outside of this process will not have commission protected.   Refunds will be processed early next week and should be credited to accounts within 10 to 15 business days. No further action is required, and please note the timing of the visibility of the funds is dependent upon your financial institution's internal process. We anticipate your clients will have their Future Cruise Credits applied to the Mariner Accounts by Wednesday, June 15. Should you have any questions please reach out to us at the appropriate office.

[aliaschief]

Kirk which ship was this on?

[KirkNC]

Just now, aliaschief said:

Kirk which ship was this on?

Nieuw Amsterdam 

[cat shepard]

Kirk

 

I am so sorry. Now I question whether my August trip will go. We were just asked for final payment yesterday. I know they must hate to do this, but this is just crappy to do it less than two weeks before you go. 
 

Ann

[KirkNC]

2 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

Kirk

 

I am so sorry. Now I question whether my August trip will go. We were just asked for final payment yesterday. I know they must hate to do this, but this is just crappy to do it less than two weeks before you go. 
 

Ann

Thanks, glad I haven’t pulled the suitcases out yet.

[cat shepard]

1 minute ago, KirkNC said:

Thanks, glad I haven’t pulled the suitcases out yet.

Amen. 

[julia]

Wow...  this is pretty shocking as it's so close!  The travel and tourism industry is a hot mess these days!  Sorry for all those impacted.

[shuyak]

@KirkNC, really feeling for you!  So much effort to plan and so many frustrations!  Not to mention the monetary loss that you have fight to hopefullt get compensated.

 

Wonder if we will receive the same for our BTB 6/15/22 Yukon Denali cruisetour / cruise.

 

Why this HAL is not the same as we researched before we booked with it???

[Tracey/Thom]

So sorry for you! It's about more than just the money (although FCC at 100% plus a full refund helps!), it's about the planning, and the time off work and everything else. 

 

We just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam 5/15/22, with a double Denali tour. They are obviously having major staffing shortages to cancel an entire cruise, but it would be better than going on the cruise and having an awful time because of the staffing issues. Our time on the ship was fantastic, but it was only half full, and the staff were working as hard and as fast as they could to keep up. Some passengers were rather unpleasant to them, which was difficult to watch.  I wouldn't be surprised if many staff quit as a result.

 

Our Land tour (2 nights in Denali) was not fun (due to staff shortages).  We had a 9 hour bus boring bus ride without a running water restroom on board from Whittier to Denali. We got there 1.5 hours after the 3 pm check in and NO ROOMS were ready. There were, literally, mountains of used sheets/towels piled in the public hallways. We didn't fuss, just went to find an early dinner. But they were short staffed too, and both nights there were long, long lines for a table. When you're halfway up a mountain, there are no other choices available. There was a Subway outside the McKinley Chalet Resort, which was not open for business. When we finally got to our room, the bed was made, but there was half-eaten food in the fridge. The bathroom/toilet had obviously not been cleaned. Luckily, we travel with sanitizing wipes and a bottle of Peroxide too. In the 2 nights that we were there, no one came to replenish the coffee supplies, the towels or empty the trash. We didn't scream and holler about it. It was obvious they were doing their best with who they had, but they just didn't have enough. 

 

But when you've paid a lot of money, and you're staying at a "resort" not a budget motel, your expectations do tend to be a bit higher. Particularly as the cruise was so wonderful.  We've decided we're not cruising for the rest of the year, as it may take a while to get all these things "back" to normal and even then, new staff tend to need training time. The ships are woefully understaffed because the State Department doesn't have enough staff to process all the visas needed for foreign workers.

 

While I really commiserate with your trip being cancelled, with such short notice, I do think they made the right choice, because otherwise your cruise would be miserable when you're expecting a truly wonderful Holland America experience.

[DaveOKC]

I wonder how much of these problems are early season start up issues that will soon be resolved.  I know that many college students are used for seasonal help in Alaska and they may not have shown up yet.  Also foreign workers.  I sure hope that this is a fixable problem in short order.

 

[Oceansaway17]

wow sorry to hear this.  So many folks not wanting to work and would rather stay home. 

I would think if inflation keeps on going up and other expenses, more folks would go back to work.

But I have heard Alaska is especially hit hard because of the short season and college students don't make as much money either given how expensive housing is.

I also think older folks who used to work in the industry quit and went south.

 

hoping things improve.

[KirkNC]

33 minutes ago, Tracey/Thom said:

So sorry for you! It's about more than just the money (although FCC at 100% plus a full refund helps!), it's about the planning, and the time off work and everything else. 

 

We just got off the Nieuw Amsterdam 5/15/22, with a double Denali tour. They are obviously having major staffing shortages to cancel an entire cruise, but it would be better than going on the cruise and having an awful time because of the staffing issues. Our time on the ship was fantastic, but it was only half full, and the staff were working as hard and as fast as they could to keep up. Some passengers were rather unpleasant to them, which was difficult to watch.  I wouldn't be surprised if many staff quit as a result.

 

Our Land tour (2 nights in Denali) was not fun (due to staff shortages).  We had a 9 hour bus boring bus ride without a running water restroom on board from Whittier to Denali. We got there 1.5 hours after the 3 pm check in and NO ROOMS were ready. There were, literally, mountains of used sheets/towels piled in the public hallways. We didn't fuss, just went to find an early dinner. But they were short staffed too, and both nights there were long, long lines for a table. When you're halfway up a mountain, there are no other choices available. There was a Subway outside the McKinley Chalet Resort, which was not open for business. When we finally got to our room, the bed was made, but there was half-eaten food in the fridge. The bathroom/toilet had obviously not been cleaned. Luckily, we travel with sanitizing wipes and a bottle of Peroxide too. In the 2 nights that we were there, no one came to replenish the coffee supplies, the towels or empty the trash. We didn't scream and holler about it. It was obvious they were doing their best with who they had, but they just didn't have enough. 

 

But when you've paid a lot of money, and you're staying at a "resort" not a budget motel, your expectations do tend to be a bit higher. Particularly as the cruise was so wonderful.  We've decided we're not cruising for the rest of the year, as it may take a while to get all these things "back" to normal and even then, new staff tend to need training time. The ships are woefully understaffed because the State Department doesn't have enough staff to process all the visas needed for foreign workers.

 

While I really commiserate with your trip being cancelled, with such short notice, I do think they made the right choice, because otherwise your cruise would be miserable when you're expecting a truly wonderful Holland America experience.

Your experience certainly confirms why they did what they did.

[2inSETexas]

I took a look at the Nieuw Amsterdam sailing for the Triple Denali for the ret of the summer. Quite a few were showing “Unavailable” across all cabin classes, including Inside Cabins. These could be at the capacity limits, but wondering now if these could be blocked out because of the reasons noted in the OP’s letter.

 

I’d be impressed with the 10-15 business day turnaround on FCCs. We had a covid related cancellation for our mid-May cruisetour and still haven’t seen our FCC yet. Can’t even rebook for later this summer until it shows up.

Edited June 3, 2022 by 2inSETexas

[Guest ldtr]

In many ways not surprising.  Most of the hospitality industry in Alaska depends upon seasonal employees from outside of the state.  Many from outside of the US.  The cruise line affiliated lodges are especially dependent upon such workers.  The ability of the hospitality industry to attract such workers is still very limited, so just about everybody is very short staffed.  

 

This situation puts the workers that are there under a great deal of strain.  End result is a good percentage of those that have traveled to Alaska for seasonal work, decide that it is not worth it and leave.  Creating even more of a problem.  One hotel owner that I know told me that pre-Covid they usually hired 20 foreign workers, 10 US based seasonal workers and had 20 local workers.  Last year they had 22 local and 5 from the the US and no foreign workers.  This year 19 local, 8 from the rest of the US and 3 foreign workers.  Problem is this year, unlike last year, has near  pre-covid levels of bookings, which he is try to cover with only 3/5s of normal staffing.

 

One disadvantage that the cruise line affiliated lodges has is that they were all closed last year.  So any local employees that would normally have worked there had to find other employment last year and as such might not have come back to the cruise line property this year.

Edited June 3, 2022 by ldtr

[kangforpres]

Man, and this was supposed to be the summer when the Alaska travel industry got back on it's feet.

 

Is the cruise portion still on? 

 

[Gray Lady]

How disheartening! Now I am waiting to see if our cruise tour is going to be cancelled. What day were you supposed to sail on the Nieuw Amsterdam? Curious if it is the same as us…June 26th. 

[KirkNC]

3 minutes ago, Gray Lady said:

How disheartening! Now I am waiting to see if our cruise tour is going to be cancelled. What day were you supposed to sail on the Nieuw Amsterdam? Curious if it is the same as us…June 26th. 

Yes, our cruise portion began June 26th.

[KirkNC]

36 minutes ago, kangforpres said:

Man, and this was supposed to be the summer when the Alaska travel industry got back on it's feet.

 

Is the cruise portion still on? 

 

Not sure, also I am not sure everyone on the land portion got the email.  Maybe they just wanted to reduce the head count.

[Gray Lady]

Just now, KirkNC said:

Yes, our cruise portion began June 26th.

I am so sorry! We are supposed to fly out on the 18th to start our double Denali on the 19th. I will be anxiously watching our email. We have never been to Alaska and never been on any cruise! I will let you know if I hear anything. again, such a bummer!

[VennDiagram]

I'm so sorry.  I can only imagine how disappointed you are, with such short cancellation notice  😞

Edited June 3, 2022 by VennDiagram

[VacationCharlene]

WOW....cant even imagine.  I am SO sorry

[Guest ldtr]

34 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

Not sure, also I am not sure everyone on the land portion got the email.  Maybe they just wanted to reduce the head count.

If the cruise is still on you can always keep the flights and do your own land trip with a rental car and your own hotel reservation.  Might be better than the lodges with current staffing.  Probably cheaper than the land tour portion.

[Mary229]

So sorry this happened.  

[TiogaCruiser]

Well that is disappointing.

Any chance they might have capacity on the cruise only? If it was a full week cruise, they will likely have empty cabins- or maybe that’s what they want on the ship as well as in the hotel, to right-size capacity.
 

Maybe that wouldn’t be as appealing as a cruise tour. 
 

It looks like HAL has recently placed a ton of “help wanted” ads for lots of different types of roles. Some positions are in Alaska, and some are remote ( from home, such as sales).( I was a little shocked at how low the pay was for sales. I might have considered it for part time.)

Edited June 4, 2022 by TiogaCruiser

[muffin]

The original posted letter from HAL stated that there was more than one cruise tour cancelled and went on to say the list was at the end of the letter. My letter did not show such a list. Does anyone know what other cruise tours and dates were affected by this?  What a tragedy for the people involved and the industry who is trying to stay alive. Good luck and happy outcome to all.