Holland America COVID Isolation Cost Failure to Reimburse

[we135b]

I contracted COVID on an Alaskan cruise on the ms Koningsdam in June of 2022. At the time the Canadian government required a 10 day isolation period which I completed in a Holland America designated4 HAL COVID letter.pdf hotel in Vancouver BC, incurring a $4000 USD bill. In a letter to me, Holland America promised to reimburse the cost as well as paying $100 a day for food. But here I am nine months later and nothing despite dozens of emails and phone calls requesting status. All communications were met with "be patient" or "its in work". At this point, I've lost hope and am deciding if I should sue in small claims court. I'm trying to determine if Holland America made the commitment as a term of the sale of the cruise, Has anyone else had a similar this experience?

Edited March 30, 2023 by we135b

[liketraveling]

 I didn’t have a problem with hotel reimbursement. I contacted Covid while on a Panama Canal Cruise the end of November

 

 

 

 Was in isolation for 7 days of the cruise.  While on the cruise I received a letter stating that  would receive a per diem rate for every day I was in isolation.  They stated I would be credit the per diem rate to my Mariner account.  
 

We disembarked the ship on December 1st.  In March I sent an email to Customer Service stating that they were responding to emails in the order they received.  In the email they stated that Future Cruise Credits would be credited to Mariner account 8 to 12 weeks after disembarkation.  They also stated “Don’t Reply to this email”.

 

 I am 16 weeks give or take from disembarktion.  I have allot of other things to deal with and have not had the time to follow up.  
 

I really was not expecting any refund.  I knew when I went that there was a risk that I could get Covid.   Was Vacinated and triple boosted. 
 

For me it is just the principle of the thing that they promised the FCC and don’t want to communicated except through email.

 

I am really sorry you are out so much money.  Have you tried sending a letter to the office of the president.

 

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

4 hours ago, we135b said:

I contracted COVID on an Alaskan cruise on the ms Koningsdam in June of 2022. At the time the Canadian government required a 10 day isolation period which I completed in a Holland America designated4 HAL COVID letter.pdf hotel in Vancouver BC, incurring a $4000 USD bill. In a letter to me, Holland America promised to reimburse the cost as well as paying $100 a day for food. But here I am nine months later and nothing despite dozens of emails and phone calls requesting status. All communications were met with "be patient" or "its in work". At this point, I've lost hope and am deciding if I should sue in small claims court. I'm trying to determine if Holland America made the commitment as a term of the sale of the cruise, Has anyone else had a similar this experience?

 

Are you expecting cash or FCC?

[shippmates]

Have you tried filing a claim with your travel insurance company?  That may be a better option at least there you would get cash instead of an FCC if that is the case.

 

[baggal]

Did you try disputing the charges with your credit card company.  They may reimburse you and then try to get payment from HAL.

[we135b]

7 hours ago, liketraveling said:

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by we135b

[KarefreeKaren]

Same here.  I am still waiting for my FCC as promised in a letter I received while on the ship after contracting Covid while onboard and six days of required isolation.  This goes back to early January 2023.  I asked before I departed in March, and was told it would not be submitted until they closed out the voyage.  Hmmm…..  

[we135b]

7 hours ago, liketraveling said:

 I didn’t have a problem with hotel reimbursement. I contacted Covid while on a Panama Canal Cruise the end of November

 

 

 

 Was in isolation for 7 days of the cruise.  While on the cruise I received a letter stating that  would receive a per diem rate for every day I was in isolation.  They stated I would be credit the per diem rate to my Mariner account.  
 

We disembarked the ship on December 1st.  In March I sent an email to Customer Service stating that they were responding to emails in the order they received.  In the email they stated that Future Cruise Credits would be credited to Mariner account 8 to 12 weeks after disembarkation.  They also stated “Don’t Reply to this email”.

 

 I am 16 weeks give or take from disembarktion.  I have allot of other things to deal with and have not had the time to follow up.  
 

I really was not expecting any refund.  I knew when I went that there was a risk that I could get Covid.   Was Vacinated and triple boosted. 
 

For me it is just the principle of the thing that they promised the FCC and don’t want to communicated except through email.

 

I am really sorry you are out so much money.  Have you tried sending a letter to the office of the president.

 

 

I will try that writing their president or some executive. I would hope ethics would be a company value. It would have been much better if they never committed to reimbursing because I could have taken different actions. Like stay at a cheaper hotel.

[we135b]

5 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

Are you expecting cash or FCC?

The letter said "reimbursement" so I would assume cash since I paid cash. I have to say that after this experience, I prefer not to do business with Holland America again so FCC would be undesirable. I cannot trust them.

Edited March 30, 2023 by we135b

[we135b]

3 hours ago, shippmates said:

Have you tried filing a claim with your travel insurance company?  That may be a better option at least there you would get cash instead of an FCC if that is the case.

 

Yes, That was a condition of the reimbursement. The insurance company disallowed it because it was not directly associated with the cruise. It was a Canadian government requirement. (*rolling my eyes. lol)

[we135b]

1 hour ago, baggal said:

Did you try disputing the charges with your credit card company.  They may reimburse you and then try to get payment from HAL.

I considered that but I'm not keen on trying to recover the money indirectly like that. Not sure why. Maybe I don't want to compromise my ethics just because Holland America is.

[we135b]

29 minutes ago, KarefreeKaren said:

Same here.  I am still waiting for my FCC as promised in a letter I received while on the ship after contracting Covid while onboard and six days of required isolation.  This goes back to early January 2023.  I asked before I departed in March, and was told it would not be submitted until they closed out the voyage.  Hmmm…..  

Sounds like this is their method of operation. Commitment with no execution. It gets us off their case while we're in front of them. Same for the way they respond in their emails and phone calls. It's nine months later and a recent email response said that it should take 6-10 weeks from time of submittal. Very disheartening. Phone calls are always responded with the same placation of "you should get it soon". I've made about a dozen contacts (many hours of waiting on hold) and understand that they have probably have no intention of following through.

[PACD_JG]

I was on the Koningsdam in June 2022.  Wasn’t the verbiage then to isolate for 10 days after your first positive test?  As in, when on the cruise did you test positive?  And therefore, did you really need 10 extra nights in Vancouver?

[catlet]

11 hours ago, we135b said:

I contracted COVID on an Alaskan cruise on the ms Koningsdam in June of 2022. At the time the Canadian government required a 10 day isolation period which I completed in a Holland America designated4 HAL COVID letter.pdf hotel in Vancouver BC, incurring a $4000 USD bill. In a letter to me, Holland America promised to reimburse the cost as well as paying $100 a day for food. But here I am nine months later and nothing despite dozens of emails and phone calls requesting status. All communications were met with "be patient" or "its in work". At this point, I've lost hope and am deciding if I should sue in small claims court. I'm trying to determine if Holland America made the commitment as a term of the sale of the cruise, Has anyone else had a similar this experience?

We caught Covid at the end of our August NS cruise and had to stay in Boston another 8 days, as we are from Canada. Filed with HAL mid September and just received our reimbursement check two weeks ago. Our travel agent contacted HAL in December and was informed it had been approved. We still had to wait almost 3 months to actually receive the money. Hang in there. 

[we135b]

23 minutes ago, PACD_JG said:

I was on the Koningsdam in June 2022.  Wasn’t the verbiage then to isolate for 10 days after your first positive test?  As in, when on the cruise did you test positive?  And therefore, did you really need 10 extra nights in Vancouver?

You are correct. I started feeling symptoms on disembarkment day and I requested a test because I knew if I tested after I got of the ship,Holland America might not feel accountable for my isolation. I was actually fairly confident that I did NOT have COVID as my symptoms were very mild. Of course, I was wrong. In hindsight, I should have tested after getting off the ship so I could execute the isolation on my own terms. That is, not in a $4000 hotel. But I never dreamed that a large corporation like Holland America would not follow up on their commitment.

Edited March 30, 2023 by we135b

[we135b]

6 minutes ago, catlet said:

We caught Covid at the end of our August NS cruise and had to stay in Boston another 8 days, as we are from Canada. Filed with HAL mid September and just received our reimbursement check two weeks ago. Our travel agent contacted HAL in December and was informed it had been approved. We still had to wait almost 3 months to actually receive the money. Hang in there. 

This is the response I was hoping to hear. I'm very happy for you and am now a little hopeful. On the other hand, my request submittal was in July. They've gone as far as to send me an email saying that I was approved and should be expecting a check but that was many, many months and phone calls ago. Thanks for the encouragement.

[suesinger]

We are also waiting for a refund from our august 2022 cruise.  We stayed one night in a hotel to finish the covid quarantine.  We have received the FCC for the days in quarantine on the ship and the $100 per person food voucher.  We got a check for the food.  Food voucher took 5 months.  We have been told our claim has been approved and to be patient for the refund.  It is now over 4 months since claim approved.  Every time we speak to someone at HAL they say someone will get back to us.  Never happens.  We had trip insurance and got paid for certain items.  Ours is only a $400 claim.  Every time we call HAL, wait time is 1 hour to over 3 hours.  We are going on an Alaska cruise in May because the FCC covered cost of cruise, but may never go on HAL again.

[rajkr74]

Getting reimbursed for Covid related expenses can be slow and fustrating both from HAL and a travel ins.

 

We had a 24 day Panama Canal cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Vancouver BC in April 2022.  The day before Vanvouver we had to test in Victoria in order to fly back to the USA. I tested positive and was quarantined for one night and taken, along with 8 other cruisers, to a hotel near the airport for a Canadian manditory 10 day quarantine stay.  My wife did not have Covid and she went home.  At the hotel I knew I would have to pay for the food ordered from the on site restaurant.  After the cruise I submitted the food expenses to our travel ins. and was paid in a month.

 

At check out from the hotel I asked if HAL was picking up the cost of the room since they gave me no bill for that cost. The hotel told me yes. Two months later our credit card had a charge of $3,000 on it from the hotel for the room. I had failed to fully read the fine print from HAL that required I submit my expenses to our travel ins before I submitted to HAL for any balance that the ins did not cover.  So I did that in July 2022 but did not get paid until the end of Nov. 2022 for only $2,500.  Found out my ins. only covered $250 per night at the hotel as per the policy.  I then, sent by mail, all the information along with the HAL out of pocket expense form for the balance of $500 to HAL.  A month later, late Dec. 2022 I called HAL Guest Relations and after sitting on hold for 1 hr 30 mins and got a nice gentleman in a call center in the Phillipines who could not access the mailed docements.  So I took pics of all the docs and sent 5 emails to him while he stayed on the phone to confirm that he had been received them.  So, at the end of Jan 2023 I called HAL Guest Relations.  Again was on hold for 1 hr 30 mins before I talked to a person in the call center in the Phillipines.  He confirmed the request for the $500 had been recieved and approved and was waiting to be paid....when that was going to happen he could not tell me.  On Feb 15, 2023 I received a check for the $500 issued from an outside company contracted by HAL.  Took for ever but got paid.  The one day of quarantine on the ship was applied to my HAL account as a FCC. 

 

Make sure you read all the info from HAL and be prepared to followup on submissions.  Also be prepared to be on hold with followup calls.  Keep notes of dates of submissions when you made calls.  Be patient and be nice to the people that you have contact with.  It will take time but we did get paid...finally.

[we135b]

1 hour ago, suesinger said:

We are also waiting for a refund from our august 2022 cruise.  We stayed one night in a hotel to finish the covid quarantine.  We have received the FCC for the days in quarantine on the ship and the $100 per person food voucher.  We got a check for the food.  Food voucher took 5 months.  We have been told our claim has been approved and to be patient for the refund.  It is now over 4 months since claim approved.  Every time we speak to someone at HAL they say someone will get back to us.  Never happens.  We had trip insurance and got paid for certain items.  Ours is only a $400 claim.  Every time we call HAL, wait time is 1 hour to over 3 hours.  We are going on an Alaska cruise in May because the FCC covered cost of cruise, but may never go on HAL again.

Oh my god. We are living parallel lives. haha. That is exactly what I've been going through. Holland America customer service has been really horrible. I'm done with them as well. It's important that people learn about a company's behavior beyond the cruise itself because these deviations can happen to anyone. If you make any progress, please share on this thread. I will do the same.

[we135b]

8 minutes ago, rajkr74 said:

Getting reimbursed for Covid related expenses can be slow and fustrating both from HAL and a travel ins.

 

We had a 24 day Panama Canal cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Vancouver BC in April 2022.  The day before Vanvouver we had to test in Victoria in order to fly back to the USA. I tested positive and was quarantined for one night and taken, along with 8 other cruisers, to a hotel near the airport for a Canadian manditory 10 day quarantine stay.  My wife did not have Covid and she went home.  At the hotel I knew I would have to pay for the food ordered from the on site restaurant.  After the cruise I submitted the food expenses to our travel ins. and was paid in a month.

 

At check out from the hotel I asked if HAL was picking up the cost of the room since they gave me no bill for that cost. The hotel told me yes. Two months later our credit card had a charge of $3,000 on it from the hotel for the room. I had failed to fully read the fine print from HAL that required I submit my expenses to our travel ins before I submitted to HAL for any balance that the ins did not cover.  So I did that in July 2022 but did not get paid until the end of Nov. 2022 for only $2,500.  Found out my ins. only covered $250 per night at the hotel as per the policy.  I then, sent by mail, all the information along with the HAL out of pocket expense form for the balance of $500 to HAL.  A month later, late Dec. 2022 I called HAL Guest Relations and after sitting on hold for 1 hr 30 mins and got a nice gentleman in a call center in the Phillipines who could not access the mailed docements.  So I took pics of all the docs and sent 5 emails to him while he stayed on the phone to confirm that he had been received them.  So, at the end of Jan 2023 I called HAL Guest Relations.  Again was on hold for 1 hr 30 mins before I talked to a person in the call center in the Phillipines.  He confirmed the request for the $500 had been recieved and approved and was waiting to be paid....when that was going to happen he could not tell me.  On Feb 15, 2023 I received a check for the $500 issued from an outside company contracted by HAL.  Took for ever but got paid.  The one day of quarantine on the ship was applied to my HAL account as a FCC. 

 

Make sure you read all the info from HAL and be prepared to followup on submissions.  Also be prepared to be on hold with followup calls.  Keep notes of dates of submissions when you made calls.  Be patient and be nice to the people that you have contact with.  It will take time but we did get paid...finally.

I'm glad to hear things eventually worked out for you but, I agree, their customer service is really terrible. As difficult as that sounded, it's comforting for me to hear although I've been waiting eight months now so I'm not optimistic. The amount of frustration they impose on their customers cannot be compensated for in dollars.

[flgus]

Similar thing with me.  Have sent reimbursement package in 3 times and it has never made it into my file.  Phone reps ask me if I need another form ….  
 

I did get the cruise credit, but it will expire before I get reimbursed, I’m certainly not going to book anything until this is resolved.

Edited April 14, 2023 by flgus

[sciencewonk]

On 3/30/2023 at 6:37 PM, liketraveling said:

 I didn’t have a problem with hotel reimbursement. I contacted Covid while on a Panama Canal Cruise the end of November

 

 

 

 Was in isolation for 7 days of the cruise.  While on the cruise I received a letter stating that  would receive a per diem rate for every day I was in isolation.  They stated I would be credit the per diem rate to my Mariner account.  
 

We disembarked the ship on December 1st.  In March I sent an email to Customer Service stating that they were responding to emails in the order they received.  In the email they stated that Future Cruise Credits would be credited to Mariner account 8 to 12 weeks after disembarkation.  They also stated “Don’t Reply to this email”.

 

 I am 16 weeks give or take from disembarktion.  I have allot of other things to deal with and have not had the time to follow up.  
 

I really was not expecting any refund.  I knew when I went that there was a risk that I could get Covid.   Was Vacinated and triple boosted. 
 

For me it is just the principle of the thing that they promised the FCC and don’t want to communicated except through email.

 

I am really sorry you are out so much money.  Have you tried sending a letter to the office of the president.

 

 

I was isolated with COVID for 6 days on a cruise ending in the middle of November 2022.  I got a letter stating I would receive FCC for the 6 days and that the FCC would have to be used by November 2023.  I didn't hear anything from HAL for a long time.  Finally, I had my TA look into it for me.  It took her 4 weeks but we finally got the FCC applied to a November 2023 cruise.  This just came through about a month ago, so it took time and effort (by my TA).

 

Interesting thing.  I booked my previous cruise in the US before we moved to Australia.  When my Australian TA looked into it for me, she said because the FCC are in US dollars, she can't book the cruise for me.  I had to contact our US TA to get things done.

[HappyInVan]

Of course, it is totally unacceptable. I presume that they are cash strapped, and need to be motivated. Suggest you check your insurance first. The claim period may have lapsed. After that, get hold of some warm body at HAL and make legal threats.

 

Naturally, do not make any booking until the matter is resolved to your satisfaction.

Edited April 15, 2023 by HappyInVan

[we135b]

Thanks HappyInVan. HAL customer service is really horrible. It takes 1-3 hours on hold to talk to someone who recites the same patronizing script. It has been repeated aggravation and stress for months now. For sure, HAL cannot be trusted to keep their word so sending them money in advance for a cruise is definitely out.

[we135b]

2 hours ago, sciencewonk said:

I was isolated with COVID for 6 days on a cruise ending in the middle of November 2022.  I got a letter stating I would receive FCC for the 6 days and that the FCC would have to be used by November 2023.  I didn't hear anything from HAL for a long time.  Finally, I had my TA look into it for me.  It took her 4 weeks but we finally got the FCC applied to a November 2023 cruise.  This just came through about a month ago, so it took time and effort (by my TA).

 

Interesting thing.  I booked my previous cruise in the US before we moved to Australia.  When my Australian TA looked into it for me, she said because the FCC are in US dollars, she can't book the cruise for me.  I had to contact our US TA to get things done.

Glad to hear that you were able to get some FCC from them and maybe a good data point that they sometimes meet their commitments given enough arm twisting. My problem is definitely not from a shortage of effort. I've spent hours trying to get my reimbursement always followed with the guarantee that I would be reimbursed soon. Of course, after nine months I'm starting to lose hope.