Late change of embarkation port

[saltshell]

Cruise critic members does it again! Thanks for the info on the port switch. No notification from HAL; has me rather miffed. Now planning changes to embarkation transportation. You guys are the best.

[boze9999]

7 minutes ago, saltshell said:

Cruise critic members does it again! Thanks for the info on the port switch. No notification from HAL; has me rather miffed. Now planning changes to embarkation transportation. You guys are the best.

Not sure @saltshell if you booked through a TA vs a HAL PCC. When booking with a HAL PCC, you get notifications directly from them (ie: immediately). When booked through a TA, HAL sends the TA the change notifications and they send them to you. Some TA's are outstanding and immediately forward to their clients. Sadly, some don't and that helps explains delays in getting notices of changes - whether before or during sailings. Best of luck and glad you saw the changes on CC!

[StLouisCruisers]

3 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Curious what you expected? Buses for all 2000 pax? That's 40 buses, if they can't re-use buses....use them for more trips. You don't schedule 40 buses in a couple days. Keep in mind they also need to redirect all their resupply logistics as well. 

 

Conversely,  as documented here, arranging transportation on your own for this short distance is not impossible. I get the inconvenience is there, but until you step on the ship, you are an independent traveler,  as far as HAL is concerned. Roughly,  the travel distance is 45-50 miles. 

 

Did you read my post above - #11?  Celebrity hired 90 buses to move people off the ship to the airport, people from the airport to the ship, and from the original port to the port the ship was docked at.  They remained in Naples instead of going to Civitavecchia due to very high winds at Civi.  They had less than half a day to arrange it all too.  This was the start of a transatlantic so lots of resupplying should have been done at Civi, but I presume they resupplied at the next port of call, Livorno.  And by the way, all the passengers made it to the Constellation and we left only a few hours late.  

 

If Celebrity can move 2000 passengers in one day HAL should be able to do it in a couple of days.  Even if we didn't enjoy the Celebrity experience on that cruise, we gave them major props for their organizational skills in an emergency.

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

Not sure there is any new info here, but the change has made industry news:

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/last-minute-embarkation-port-changes-for-holland-america-cruise-ship/77198

 

[Nang]

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Curious what you expected? Buses for all 2000 pax? That's 40 buses, if they can't re-use buses....use them for more trips. You don't schedule 40 buses in a couple days. Keep in mind they also need to redirect all their resupply logistics as well. 

 

Conversely,  as documented here, arranging transportation on your own for this short distance is not impossible. I get the inconvenience is there, but until you step on the ship, you are an independent traveler,  as far as HAL is concerned. Roughly,  the travel distance is 45-50 miles. 

Thanks for the helpful, empathetic response, much appreciated. Please be reassured, we are coping.

[NavyCruiser]

5 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Curious what you expected? Buses for all 2000 pax? That's 40 buses, if they can't re-use buses....use them for more trips. You don't schedule 40 buses in a couple days. Keep in mind they also need to redirect all their resupply logistics as well. 

 

Conversely,  as documented here, arranging transportation on your own for this short distance is not impossible. I get the inconvenience is there, but until you step on the ship, you are an independent traveler,  as far as HAL is concerned. Roughly,  the travel distance is 45-50 miles. 

No.

But since most cruisers plan to either stay in Amsterdam for a few days or to fly out of Amsterdam airport after the cruise, HAL can charter 2 - 3 Thalys train from Rotterdam to take passengers 20 minutes train ride directly to AMS airport for the first 1 or 2 trains, then another 15 minutes directly to Amsterdam central train station on train #3 for those staying in Amsterdam (like us).

And also start debarkation an hour or two earlier than scheduled.

[iancal]

6 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Curious what you expected? Buses for all 2000 pax? That's 40 buses, if they can't re-use buses....use them for more trips. You don't schedule 40 buses in a couple days. Keep in mind they also need to redirect all their resupply logistics as well. 

 

Conversely,  as documented here, arranging transportation on your own for this short distance is not impossible. I get the inconvenience is there, but until you step on the ship, you are an independent traveler,  as far as HAL is concerned. Roughly,  the travel distance is 45-50 miles. 

If this is the biggest issue that cruisers will experience then they indeed leave a good life.

 

Go with the flow.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  Just get on the train.   Hardly an unsurmountable challenge.  Who knows...it might even be an enjoyable experience.   

 

HAL is not doing this to purposely inconvenience customers.  There must be a good reason.

 

Cut HAL some slack on this.

Edited July 23, 2022 by iancal

[El Orans]

25 minutes ago, iancal said:

HAL is not doing this to purposely inconvenience customers.  There must be a good reason.

 

“Holland America Line is forced to make a last-minute embarkation port change due to the low water level in the North Sea Canal.”

 

See #29.

[papadave]

Maybe they should encourage us all to go to a maritime museum or a science museum to learn more about the chalenges of maintaining water appropriate for agriculture in the Netherlands.   I'm fascinated by all that I am learning and did not realize how much they have to do just to have fresh water that is not contanimated by sea water.  At the least, it is crucial to farming, but it sounds like it is important in other areas as well.   

 

The train ride is not terribly long and I normally don't do anything on embarkation day other than get to the port and get on the ship.    I feel bad for anyone who had to cancel other plans to fit in an additional hour of travel or those folks who booked the hotel right next to the cruise port in Amsterdam just so they did not need to consider anything beyond getting to their hotel.   Patience and understanding, in this case, is a virtue and it would be wrong to blame any cruise line for a drought that is harming a large portion of a continent.   Having not been contacted by the cruise line yet, I am disappointed in the slowness of communication.   I hope that others in my shoes, embarking on the 31st, get more advanced notice than the people leaving tomorrow, the 24th.

[dfish]

At this time it is for today and July 31st.  If they get rain it is possible to go back to Amsterdam.

[CruiserBruce]

6 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

No.

But since most cruisers plan to either stay in Amsterdam for a few days or to fly out of Amsterdam airport after the cruise, HAL can charter 2 - 3 Thalys train from Rotterdam to take passengers 20 minutes train ride directly to AMS airport for the first 1 or 2 trains, then another 15 minutes directly to Amsterdam central train station on train #3 for those staying in Amsterdam (like us).

And also start debarkation an hour or two earlier than scheduled.

You think there is a lot of extra trains (and crews) just sitting around? And space on the tracks? And then getting the pax all to the station at the designated time for those trains...all in a couple of days when people are airborne or may not have access to their email? Really?

[Ine]

7 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

No.

But since most cruisers plan to either stay in Amsterdam for a few days or to fly out of Amsterdam airport after the cruise, HAL can charter 2 - 3 Thalys train from Rotterdam to take passengers 20 minutes train ride directly to AMS airport for the first 1 or 2 trains, then another 15 minutes directly to Amsterdam central train station on train #3 for those staying in Amsterdam (like us).

And also start debarkation an hour or two earlier than scheduled.

Either your reply is a joke or you donot know how busy train tracks are in NL. 

[MAVIP]

10 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

No.

But since most cruisers plan to either stay in Amsterdam for a few days or to fly out of Amsterdam airport after the cruise, HAL can charter 2 - 3 Thalys train from Rotterdam to take passengers 20 minutes train ride directly to AMS airport for the first 1 or 2 trains, then another 15 minutes directly to Amsterdam central train station on train #3 for those staying in Amsterdam (like us).

And also start debarkation an hour or two earlier than scheduled.

Wishful thinking? Where could NS find those spare Thalys trains? In Paris, in London or? And 2nd: there is a lack of personnel at the railway company NS too, so another question: where to find extra engine-drivers? 3rd: Extra trains between all others on the busiest parts of the "rails" in our country?

[MAVIP]

Apologies to @CruiserBruceand @Ine that I did not scroll down to see your replies before typing mine.  

 

[MAVIP]

9 hours ago, papadave said:

Maybe they should encourage us all to go to a maritime museum or a science museum to learn more about the chalenges of maintaining water appropriate for agriculture in the Netherlands.   I'm fascinated by all that I am learning and did not realize how much they have to do just to have fresh water that is not contanimated by sea water.  At the least, it is crucial to farming, but it sounds like it is important in other areas as well.   

 

What a luminous idea for a HAL excursion 🙂  (And a good idea too for quite a few inhabitants of our country.)

[boze9999]

7 hours ago, dfish said:

At this time it is for today and July 31st.  If they get rain it is possible to go back to Amsterdam.

Unfortunately, the "rainy season" is generally considered to be the Fall (S/O/N). Time for some rain dances for summertime rain!

[CruiserBruce]

17 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Did you read my post above - #11?  Celebrity hired 90 buses to move people off the ship to the airport, people from the airport to the ship, and from the original port to the port the ship was docked at.  They remained in Naples instead of going to Civitavecchia due to very high winds at Civi.  They had less than half a day to arrange it all too.  This was the start of a transatlantic so lots of resupplying should have been done at Civi, but I presume they resupplied at the next port of call, Livorno.  And by the way, all the passengers made it to the Constellation and we left only a few hours late.  

 

If Celebrity can move 2000 passengers in one day HAL should be able to do it in a couple of days.  Even if we didn't enjoy the Celebrity experience on that cruise, we gave them major props for their organizational skills in an emergency.

 

 

Given what you say happened, I strongly believe they had more time than half a day. That just isn't plausible. I have been deeply involved in complex logistics issues for about half my career. I seriously doubt you could do all that in half a day.

 

In any event, just because they could do it in Rome doesn't automatically mean the same thing can be pulled together in Amsterdam.

 

[dfish]

My nephew and his girlfriend report that they were bussed to the Amsterdam Passenger Terminal early this morning.  From there they walked to Central Station and took the train to Schiphol.  Matt said it was 90 minutes from PCT to their gate at the airport.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 hours ago, dfish said:

My nephew and his girlfriend report that they were bussed to the Amsterdam Passenger Terminal early this morning.  From there they walked to Central Station and took the train to Schiphol.  Matt said it was 90 minutes from PCT to their gate at the airport.

I am curious as to what time they started embarkation. Hard to believe it was just a week ago today I had disembarked Rotterdam in Amsterdam.

[mjdenn]

Interesting conversation,  I'd offer the following.  A change of the embarkation port is not the same as a change of itenary.  The logistics are completely different both for the ship and the passengers,  We've had this happen twice.  The first was on a small ship (Royal Clipper).  The Harbor Master closed the port that we were in and as a result we were unable to make Lisbon.  Star Clipper hired sufficient buses to bus everyone to Lisbon and return the passengers for the next cruise which was the trans atlantic.  At the Formula 1 race in Austin they lost thousands of parking spots due to rain.  The organisers responded by hiring hundreds of school buses to replace the lost capacity.  Finally when Venice banned cruise ships the cruise companies responded by reticketing.  As it happens we are sailing on the 8/21 cruise leaving from who knows where.

[flowery]

21 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Did you read my post above - #11?  Celebrity hired 90 buses to move people off the ship to the airport, people from the airport to the ship, and from the original port to the port the ship was docked at.  They remained in Naples instead of going to Civitavecchia due to very high winds at Civi.  They had less than half a day to arrange it all too.  This was the start of a transatlantic so lots of resupplying should have been done at Civi, but I presume they resupplied at the next port of call, Livorno.  And by the way, all the passengers made it to the Constellation and we left only a few hours late.  

 

If Celebrity can move 2000 passengers in one day HAL should be able to do it in a couple of days.  Even if we didn't enjoy the Celebrity experience on that cruise, we gave them major props for their organizational skills in an emergency.

 

 

It's funny you bring that up. We were on the Celebrity Constellation that had to end in Naples because of the high winds in Civitavecchia. If I remember correctly, passengers left the ship on buses to Rome in staggered groupings- some in the middle of the night- starting at 2 or 3 am? We had been on a private excursion in Naples earlier in the day- I contacted the private tour company that evening (after hours!) and was lucky to reach someone who arranged a driver for us the next morning. It was kind of an adventure. The only difficulty was because of the bad weather, the friends we were traveling with opted to stay longer in Rome instead of parting ways and our carefully planned restaurant reservations couldn't be expanded to accommodate more people- missing out on Armando al Pantheon was heartbreaking LOL.

Thanks to the locals and other cruisers for posting about the Rotterdam embarkation change.

 

 

[VMax1700]

1 hour ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

I am curious as to what time they started embarkation. Hard to believe it was just a week ago today I had disembarked Rotterdam in Amsterdam.

I don't know what time they started embarkation but she sailed right on scheduled time!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

21 hours ago, iancal said:

If this is the biggest issue that cruisers will experience then they indeed leave a good life.

 

Go with the flow.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  Just get on the train.   Hardly an unsurmountable challenge.  Who knows...it might even be an enjoyable experience.   

 

HAL is not doing this to purposely inconvenience customers.  There must be a good reason.

 

Cut HAL some slack on this.

Well put ......

[StLouisCruisers]

2 hours ago, flowery said:

It's funny you bring that up. We were on the Celebrity Constellation that had to end in Naples because of the high winds in Civitavecchia. If I remember correctly, passengers left the ship on buses to Rome in staggered groupings- some in the middle of the night- starting at 2 or 3 am? We had been on a private excursion in Naples earlier in the day- I contacted the private tour company that evening (after hours!) and was lucky to reach someone who arranged a driver for us the next morning. It was kind of an adventure. The only difficulty was because of the bad weather, the friends we were traveling with opted to stay longer in Rome instead of parting ways and our carefully planned restaurant reservations couldn't be expanded to accommodate more people- missing out on Armando al Pantheon was heartbreaking LOL.

Thanks to the locals and other cruisers for posting about the Rotterdam embarkation change.

 

 

 

Hey, small world!  I do remember hearing that disembarking passengers had to begin leaving at around 2 or 3 am.  Must have been very inconvenient for people waiting for a flight home from Rome at say, 2 pm.  Talk about a long day!  Sorry you had to miss your special dinner!

[MAVIP]

3 hours ago, mjdenn said:

I The organisers responded by hiring hundreds of school buses to replace the lost capacity.  Finally when Venice banned cruise ships the cruise companies responded by reticketing.  As it happens we are sailing on the 8/21 cruise leaving from who knows where.

IF the cruise you intend to make on August 21st is on the ms Rotterdam, scheduled to depart from the PTA in Amsterdam and IF the PTA Amsterdam has to be and will be replaced by the Cruise Terminal in Rotterdam: the distance between the two is about 48 miles.  Less than the distance between New York and Islip. Randstad is the name of the conurbation in which the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht are situated.  40 minutes by non-stop train and on a Sunday morning (embarkation days) 50 minutes by car.  By the way: visiting Delft, Gouda, Amsterdam, Leiden, and even Antwerp and Brussels is quite easy from Rotterdam.  Enjoy your next holiday, wherever it may be. Kind regards.