Is this fair?

[Windsailer]

So HAL just notified my TA that our 2024 cruise is being shortened by one day, one port lost and another added. Instead of a 14 cruise it now will be 13 days. The letter said in relevant portion:

 

"Please be advised that due to deployment changes we have made adjustments to your clients’ voyage. This cruise will now be one day shorter and will end in Singapore on Saturday, January 4, 2025. The cruise fare will be reduced by one day and you will receive a new booking confirmation shortly."

 

Leaving aside the fact that since it's only 13 days now I will get less CCL OBC, you would think the way to determine what the new far should be would be to take the original fare, divide it by 14 and then that number would be the daily rate to be subtracted from the original fare to come up with the new fare. Easy - peasey. Right?

 

Not so fast! Apparently the price of the cruise has gone up in the 20 days since we booked. The subtraction will be based on this NEW fare. So very little savings. Pretty shifty of HAL. MY TA - who is great - tried to argue my point but didn't get anywhere.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

Edited September 20, 2023 by Windsailer

[FlorenceItaly]

I think this makes NO sense at all!  Hopefully, something is lost in translation.

[rodndonna]

4 minutes ago, Windsailer said:

So HAL just notified my TA that our 2024 cruise is being shortened by one day, one port lost and another added. Instead of a 14 cruise it now will be 13 days. The letter said in relevant portion:

 

"Please be advised that due to deployment changes we have made adjustments to your clients’ voyage. This cruise will now be one day shorter and will end in Singapore on Saturday, January 4, 2025. The cruise fare will be reduced by one day and you will receive a new booking confirmation shortly."

 

Leaving aside the fact that since it's only 13 days now I will get less CCL OBC, you would think the way to determine what the new far should be would be to take the original fare, divide it by 14 and then that number would be the daily rate to be subtracted from the original far to come up with the new fare. Easy - peasey. Right?

 

Not so fast! Apparently the price of the cruise has gone up in the 20 days since we booked. The subtraction will be based on this NEW fare. So very little savings. Pretty shifty of HAL. MY TA - who is great - tried to argue my point but didn't get anywhere.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

 

I'm with you - I think "minimally" it should be prorated to a 13 day cruise based on the fare when you booked. As a gesture of good will, I would have liked to see them honour the 14 day OBC perks you had at booking.

 

I am a generous person - but honestly, I think that is just what I would expect to be done.

 

And why wouldn't they .. how many people even booked in that window before the change? Shouldn't really be a big deal for them to throw you a bone.

Edited September 20, 2023 by rodndonna

[Windsailer]

2 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

I think this makes NO sense at all!  Hopefully, something is lost in translation.

What doesn't make sense? What I said or what HAL did?

[FlorenceItaly]

1 minute ago, Windsailer said:

What doesn't make sense? What I said or what HAL did?

I am sorry I wasn't more clear.  It could be the gin and tonic, lol.  It makes no sense what HAL did.  The prorate should be on the fare you paid.  And, I too would be disappointed you now lose the shareholder 14 day credit.

[3rdGenCunarder]

10 minutes ago, Windsailer said:

Not so fast! Apparently the price of the cruise has gone up in the 20 days since we booked. The subtraction will be based on this NEW fare. So very little savings. Pretty shifty of HAL. MY TA - who is great - tried to argue my point but didn't get anywhere.

 

I'm confused. It sounds like you're getting 1/14th of a higher fare. Isn't that a bigger refund?  Or are they subtracting 1/14th of your original fare from the new higher fare? (In which case, I would spell shifty a little differently)

[FlaMariner]

Since HAL said this:

 

13 minutes ago, Windsailer said:

The cruise fare will be reduced by one day

 

HAL should abide by that.....and the reduction in price should be based on the reduction in price....Not the price after you purchased but the price you paid.

 

Where is the information coming from that states that HAL is refunding the per day rate based on something that is not your per day rate?  That is where I would ask for clarification.  

 

Again, since HAL said they would reduce the fare by "one day", they should reduce the fare by "one day".

[rodndonna]

4 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I'm confused. It sounds like you're getting 1/14th of a higher fare. Isn't that a bigger refund?  Or are they subtracting 1/14th of your original fare from the new higher fare? (In which case, I would spell shifty a little differently)

 

I think you are right, this would make more sense. The prorate per day of the higher rate is to determine a credit back against the original fare so works in his/her favour.

[Toofarfromthesea]

9 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I'm confused. It sounds like you're getting 1/14th of a higher fare. Isn't that a bigger refund?  Or are they subtracting 1/14th of your original fare from the new higher fare? (In which case, I would spell shifty a little differently)

 

I'm just guessing here, but I think what is happening is that the new fare is 13/14ths of the new, higher fare, not that they are crediting them with 1/14th of the new higher fare.

 

That's not how OP said it, but if it is giving them very little savings I think that may be what's happening.

Edited September 20, 2023 by Toofarfromthesea

[Windsailer]

9 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I'm confused. It sounds like you're getting 1/14th of a higher fare. Isn't that a bigger refund?  Or are they subtracting 1/14th of your original fare from the new higher fare? (In which case, I would spell shifty a little differently)

The latter. And I thought about spelling it that way. 

[rodndonna]

If the original fare was $50/day and the new fare is now $75/day he/she pays their original fare minus $75.

 

That would be fair (OBC issues aside)

[albingirl]

9 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

If the original fare was $50/day and the new fare is now $75/day he/she pays their original fare minus $75.

 

That would be fair (OBC issues aside)

Agree.

[Laminator]

42 minutes ago, Windsailer said:

So HAL just notified my TA that our 2024 cruise is being shortened by one day, one port lost and another added. Instead of a 14 cruise it now will be 13 days. The letter said in relevant portion:

 

"Please be advised that due to deployment changes we have made adjustments to your clients’ voyage. This cruise will now be one day shorter and will end in Singapore on Saturday, January 4, 2025. The cruise fare will be reduced by one day and you will receive a new booking confirmation shortly."

 

Leaving aside the fact that since it's only 13 days now I will get less CCL OBC, you would think the way to determine what the new far should be would be to take the original fare, divide it by 14 and then that number would be the daily rate to be subtracted from the original fare to come up with the new fare. Easy - peasey. Right?

 

Not so fast! Apparently the price of the cruise has gone up in the 20 days since we booked. The subtraction will be based on this NEW fare. So very little savings. Pretty shifty of HAL. MY TA - who is great - tried to argue my point but didn't get anywhere.

 

What do you guys think?

 

 

If in fact what you have written here is true you are coming out ahead so I would let it go.

[Windsailer]

21 minutes ago, albingirl said:

Agree.

Yes, that would be fair. 

[Ride-The-Waves]

Of course its "fair,"  Its a business and they can do what they want...and you can walk if you don't like it.

[EatonDoolittle]

9 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Of course its "fair,"  Its a business and they can do what they want...and you can walk if you don't like it.

 

And as my attorney says,  "Fair is where you go to get cotton candy" . 

[3rdGenCunarder]

48 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

If the original fare was $50/day and the new fare is now $75/day he/she pays their original fare minus $75.

 

That would be fair (OBC issues aside)

 

If the original fare was $50 per day and the new fare is $75 per day, the OP should get $50 back. I think a refund of 1/14 of the fare is what HAL is probably going to do, and the explanation OP got was wrong. 

 

I do think the drop from 13 to 14 days should not affect the OBC. I know the cruise contract allows HAL to make changes as they deem necessary, but a little something to ease the sting would be a nice gesture.

[BackNow]

Everything should be based on the price you booked at.  That is what you signed up for; not what is the current price.  You probably haven't paid in full yet.  Your TA should get a statement from HAL as to what you now owe.  Then you know for sure.

 

As for the OBC, they should honor it as a goodwill gesture for inconveniencing you.  But they can not give it to you if they want.

 

There is a number of trends I see happening that is turning me off on cruising.  I won't go into details here.

 

[cbr663]

1 hour ago, Windsailer said:

 

.. and you will receive a new booking confirmation shortly."

 

 

This signals to me that HAL hasn't just made changes to your original cruise but instead has cancelled it and substituting it with a new, higher prices cruise.  I would want this confirmed as if this is the case then HAL should be doing a lot more to compensate you for this.

 

Personally, I think that in the coming months we are going to see many more threads of HAL making sudden changes to cruises.  I don't like it.  It feels to me like HAL is advertising one thing, taking your cash and then delivering something else.  

 

OP, it seems like you need even more information from your TA.  Hopefully you will get some clarity on what is actually happening.  Just keep in mind that as your cruise is in 2024 there may very well be more changes yet to come.  If you don't feel that you are being treated fairly then you should consider simply cancelling your cruise and looking elsewhere.

[YourWorldWithBill]

1 hour ago, Windsailer said:

So HAL just notified my TA that our 2024 cruise is being shortened by one day, one port lost and another added. Instead of a 14 cruise it now will be 13 days. The letter said in relevant portion:

What do you guys think? 

 

One more point in considering fair as opposed to $. If you're using Club Orange, the price changes from 13 days to 14 days. That is, if your cruise is 14 days or longer, the cost is $15 a day, but if it's 13 days or less it's $25 a day. Both prices are per person. ($50 a day for two as opposed to $30 a day for two.) 

 

So, by shortening your cruise by a day they might be making more, unless they gave the passengers the previous price. And any new passengers are paying the new price.

[Mary229]

Are you past final payment?  If not all is fair as you can leave the cruise.

 

did you already apply for OBC?  If so HAL will likely let it stand 

[syesmar]

In these circumstances, does HAL honor the original amount of days for Mariner Cruise Day Credits? I know the number of credits received can be a factor for some when choosing a sailing.

Edited September 20, 2023 by syesmar

[Windsailer]

The cruise isn't until December 2024. I wanted to book it early since it's a Christmas cruise with my sons, one of whom hasn't cruised on HAL and the other hasn't in a long time. So final payment is a ways off. My TA (who is great) said early on that the new price with the one day reduction would be based on current rates. At that point I calculated what the one day reduction should be based on the price on my invoice and I told her that was what I was willing to accept. She came back with a price within $50 of what I expected (I think she probably lowered her commission).  I am asking HAL for the other $50. 

 

It's really a shame this happened. With all the website issues (I really can't get into any of my 3 booked cruises without seeing the Bad Request page again and again) it's quite sad. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, cbr663 said:

 

This signals to me that HAL hasn't just made changes to your original cruise but instead has cancelled it and substituting it with a new, higher prices cruise.  I would want this confirmed as if this is the case then HAL should be doing a lot more to compensate you for this.

 

Personally, I think that in the coming months we are going to see many more threads of HAL making sudden changes to cruises.  I don't like it.  It feels to me like HAL is advertising one thing, taking your cash and then delivering something else.  

 

OP, it seems like you need even more information from your TA.  Hopefully you will get some clarity on what is actually happening.  Just keep in mind that as your cruise is in 2024 there may very well be more changes yet to come.  If you don't feel that you are being treated fairly then you should consider simply cancelling your cruise and looking elsewhere.

 

The new booking confirmation could be to verify the new price of the cruise, and not a whole new booking. When that arrives, OP will know for sure how HAL is adjusting the fare. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

15 minutes ago, Windsailer said:

It's really a shame this happened. With all the website issues (I really can't get into any of my 3 booked cruises without seeing the Bad Request page again and again) it's quite sad. 

 

The Bad Request is annoying. Try Chrome in incognito mode. Someone on here suggested it recently, and it has worked for me.