Frustrating rollout by HAL of notice of apparent itinerary change

[Skicruiser55]

5 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I saw that too; the calendar is obviously wrong.

 

But for your cruise, go to the same web page to which you linked, and scroll down to "Mooring Plans."  Then click July, and go to July 23.  You will see the berthing plan showing the Nieuw Statendam docked in Stavanger on July 23, the only ship there that day.  I think you'll make it, lucky you!

Now that’s VERY interesting because on July 26 when the Jul 15 sailing should be in Stavanger when I look at the mooring report Rotterdam isn’t shown on EITHER spot so……. I wonder where we will be going? 

[Sailing Shoes]

Wondering if the port fees are less than in Stavanger, allowing HAL to pocket the difference?

[RuthC]

13 minutes ago, Sailing Shoes said:

Wondering if the port fees are less than in Stavanger, allowing HAL to pocket the difference?

HAL, unlike some other cruise lines, doesn't pocket the difference when there is a decrease in port charges. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

40 minutes ago, RuthC said:

HAL, unlike some other cruise lines, doesn't pocket the difference when there is a decrease in port charges. 

 

They tend to charge more than the actual port charge "just in case," I guess. And then any extra is always refunded. 

[St Pete Cruiser]

Although I agree with you that you should be notified of the port change, Somaneset looks like it might be as good or better of a location as Stavanger.  I have been to Stavanger with 3 large ships and another tendering, and it was basically over run.

I'm thinking shore excursions is going to be doing most of the tours from the new dock location.

[Turtles06]

5 minutes ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

Although I agree with you that you should be notified of the port change, Somaneset looks like it might be as good or better of a location as Stavanger.  I have been to Stavanger with 3 large ships and another tendering, and it was basically over run.

I'm thinking shore excursions is going to be doing most of the tours from the new dock location.

 

I appreciate what you are saying about crowds in Stavanger.  But many folks are not doing HAL excursions.  A number of us, for example, are booked with Rodne Fjord Tours, right there near the dock in Stavanger, for their cruise up Lysefjord, and sailing past Pulpit Rock.   (HAL offers something similar but at about $100 more per person.  One can only wonder how much more expensive it will be running out of Somaneset.)   And lots of us were looking forward to just being able to walk right into Stavanger. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I appreciate what you are saying about crowds in Stavanger.  But many folks are not doing HAL excursions.  A number of us, for example, are booked with Rodne Fjord Tours, right there near the dock in Stavanger, for their cruise up Lysefjord, and sailing past Pulpit Rock.   (HAL offers something similar but at about $100 more per person.  One can only wonder how much more expensive it will be running out of Somaneset.)   And lots of us were looking forward to just being able to walk right into Stavanger. 

 

Stavanger is a lovely town. We went to the sardine canning museum. BF and I were skeptical, but our husbands were adamant about going. Our guide was great, and funny, and we had a good time. Somewhere, I still have the plastic sardine I bought in the gift shop. 

[Oshunvuz]

I'd give HAL's customer service dept a "C" at best. I called with a question but could hardly understand the off-shore HAL rep and maybe she couldn't understand me either. I had to restate my question 3 times. She said she needed to put me on hold for 1 minute. 48 minutes later she cam back on and asked if I was still there. She said she needed to transfer me to another rep....and then instead of being transferred I was cut off and got a dial tone. I have a PCC but she is on leave so I get someone different every time I call. I've found more information and more accurate information online than I have on my calls to HAL.

[terrydtx]

HAL seems to be very slow when it comes to notifications of port changes. It happened to us last year on the August 14th Oosterdam 14 day Greek cruise from Venice. Everyone knew about the Venice laws banning cruise ships from docking in Venice a year before our cruise. But HAL insisted up to about May last year that they would depart from Venice and then they announced the departure was moved to Trieste. About the same time we were notified that Santorini and Chana Crete had been dropped and replaced with another sea day and a second stop in Mykonos. It took the web site even longer to make these changes and add back shore excursions.

 

This year we are booked on the K'Dam California Coastal cruise in November with a port stop in Monterrey California. It has been all over the news that in January the City of Monterrey passed an ordinance effectively banning cruise ships from using any city services and docking for tenders. Other cruise lines doing the same itinerary have already taken Monterrey off their port stops, but so far not a word from HAL. The last thing we want is another sea day off the coast on the current 4 scheduled ports for this cruise. Celebrity already dropped Monterrey and replaced it with an overnight in San Fransisco in their coastal Calif. itineraries, which would be fine with us.

Edited March 6, 2023 by terrydtx

[fusion927]

20 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

I saw that too; the calendar is obviously wrong.

 

But for your cruise, go to the same web page to which you linked, and scroll down to "Mooring Plans."  Then click July, and go to July 23.  You will see the berthing plan showing the Nieuw Statendam docked in Stavanger on July 23, the only ship there that day.  I think you'll make it, lucky you!

 

Didn't see that before.. Thanks.

 

Also, I asked Rodne Fjord Tours, whose Pulpit Rock tour we signed up.  They said that hadn't heard anything about the ship changing ports, so yes, we might be lucky!

 

[Turtles06]

21 minutes ago, fusion927 said:

 

Didn't see that before.. Thanks.

 

Also, I asked Rodne Fjord Tours, whose Pulpit Rock tour we signed up.  They said that hadn't heard anything about the ship changing ports, so yes, we might be lucky!

 

 

Not sure when you heard from them, but someone else on our July 1-15 Roll Call today posted this reply from them:

 

 ”Thank you for your email. It seems like your ship is arriving in Sandnes at 08:00, our fjord cruise is departing at 10:00 from Stavanger.
It takes aprx. 20 minutes driving from Sandnes to Stavanger, so you should manage this very well. 
There are ordinary buses between these two towns, or perhaps you can organize a taxi if there are many of you from your ship "Rotterdam" that are coming on our fjord cruise to Preikestolen."

[fusion927]

I got an email from them this morning, similar but different 😀 The 'yet' is still a little worrisome!

 

And for those without context, this is regarding the Nieuw Statendam on July 23rd.

 

Thank you for your email.

I do not see any information yet that your ship is going to Sandnes instead of Stavanger in July. From Sandnes it takes approx 20 minutes driving to Stavanger, there are ordinary bus and train departure between these two towns. And if your ship is docking in Sandnes perhaps you can organize a taxi if there are many of you from your ship that are joining our Fjord cruise to Preikestolen. So there are several transport possibilities from Sandnes to Stavanger if you need.

 

 

 

[Turtles06]

17 minutes ago, fusion927 said:

I got an email from them this morning, similar but different 😀 The 'yet' is still a little worrisome!

 

And for those without context, this is regarding the Nieuw Statendam on July 23rd.

 

Thank you for your email.

I do not see any information yet that your ship is going to Sandnes instead of Stavanger in July. From Sandnes it takes approx 20 minutes driving to Stavanger, there are ordinary bus and train departure between these two towns. And if your ship is docking in Sandnes perhaps you can organize a taxi if there are many of you from your ship that are joining our Fjord cruise to Preikestolen. So there are several transport possibilities from Sandnes to Stavanger if you need.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the reminder that you are on the NS, scheduled for Stavanger on July 23.  As I pointed out to you yesterday, the official port mooring plan for July 23 shows the NS docked IN Stavanger, and also it shows it being the only ship there that day, so I'm not sure what you are worried about.   (Our situation on the Rotterdam, July 13, is quite different.)

 

Scroll down to the mooring plans for July, click on July 23:

 

https://www.stavangerhavn.no/en/about/documents/mooringplans/