ccqueenanne Posted July 5 #676 Share Posted July 5 22 hours ago, St Pete Cruiser said: I'm very curious to hear from anyone who has chosen to remain on the standby list after 48 hours. That means packing and showing up at the port, still hoping for a last-minute room. There has to be a few people who have very last-minute issues within the 48 hours who can't travel or need to cancel, but do they actually cancel or just not show up? Would Holland America assign a standby guest a room, at say 3pm, that was sold to a guest who literally doesn't show or call before departure? I thought about this as well, as we chose to remain on the standby list until 11am on day of sailing. As Starwave reported, we didn't hear from HAL again, other than receiving the credit on my credit card. In reality, is there really somebody sitting there on embark day waiting on cancellations with their phone at the ready to call folks from the waitlist? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare sunviking90 Posted July 5 #677 Share Posted July 5 15 minutes ago, ccqueenanne said: . In reality, is there really somebody sitting there on embark day waiting on cancellations with their phone at the ready to call folks from the waitlist? I wonder this too, especially since most of the standby cruises leave on Saturdays and Sundays. This seems like a m-f department in Seattle. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rj59 Posted July 5 #678 Share Posted July 5 The way I found that I didn't get a spot was seeing my booking gone, so that would save people a lot of worry or having to call. There was no attempt to leave me on the list until day of sailing. I know I've no-showed on some cruises and had them call me, so there might be some openings that way, but in practice I can't see how they can do it, since HQ has the availability list and has to add the booking to the cruise manifest, and you'd run into huge problems with communicating to people at the last minute. So I think in theory they offer that option, just in case, just as they suggest people could get notified 7 days in advance, but in practice I think they are either going to notify 1-2 days before the cruise, keep them on edge in hopes of getting a spot, or just canceling the reservation, especially for those far down on the list. The new pricing also makes it more expensive for longer cruises and for Mexico/Caribbean, since they're in effect adding on $50/day in taxes/fees, and apart from Alaska, you'd pay less than $350 on a 7-day cruise by booking regular. Even as a single, the new pricing will make me look for options elsewhere for my regular winter Mexico cruises, and even on HAL I booked Zaandam for 11 nights in December for $1300 with taxes but with $300 OBC, whereas standby would be $1100, so not really enough of a difference to compensate for the uncertainty/stress. Likewise, I sailed Zaandam in early June for $1000 with $200 OBC, but now if I get on standby it would be $700 with no OBC, so not a compelling bargain any longer, even for a solo. Where it does pay off if I just want to keep trying to get a spot in July/August, with high prices, although I'd sour on the program more if it turns out just to be a futile waste of time and stress/uncertainty. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwestladybug Posted July 6 #679 Share Posted July 6 My husband and I are on standby for the Eurodam sailing from Seattle (7-day Alaska) on 7/13. We live within an hour of the port, so if given a choice to "hang on till the last minute," we will do that! Before I fell in love with cruising (on an Alaskan cruise with my daughter on the Konigsdam in late May), my husband and I booked a week in Banff for the same week as the cruise. So if we don't get on the cruise, we'll wave farewell to the ship, take our bags back to the car, and will continue northward! (And if we do get on, my first order of business will be to cancel Banff hotels within the 24-hour mark and before we lose cell service!) 🫰we get on the cruise... but either adventure works! I will try to come back and report on what happened. 8 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwestladybug Posted July 11 #680 Share Posted July 11 It's 9 AM on Thursday, two days before departure. So far, no word from HAL -- but we are packed and ready to GO! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilvertoGold Posted July 11 #681 Share Posted July 11 4 hours ago, Northwestladybug said: It's 9 AM on Thursday, two days before departure. So far, no word from HAL -- but we are packed and ready to GO! Please let us know if you get to board and what you get assigned! Exciting!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwestladybug Posted July 11 #682 Share Posted July 11 53 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said: Please let us know if you get to board and what you get assigned! Exciting!! Will do. It is 2:10 PM two days before departure and I have heard nothing from HAL. I just called the CS number and the agent said to "just wait for the email." And so, I wait. We are fully packed and ready to go, but trying not to get too excited (which is part of the fun, right?!). This is not for the faint at heart! 4 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwestladybug Posted July 12 #683 Share Posted July 12 (edited) Sigh. (Yet still hopeful!) Got this email this evening at 6:30 PM two days before sailing: "Standby List Update EURODAM 13JUL24 D447 Regrettably, our Standby List for your requested Alaska cruise is fully booked, however if you would like to stay on stand-by status and potentially clear as late as the day of sailing we can leave your booking active, or if you prefer, we can cancel your booking today and refund you in full. Please reply to this email with your preference; if you would like to remain on stand-by, please advise the latest time you would need to clear, and the best way to reach you if last minute space comes available." Replied: "We would like to remain on stand-by. We will be at Pier 91 in Seattle on Saturday morning, ready to board. Our contact information is: XXXXXXXXX" Edited July 12 by Northwestladybug removal of personal info 4 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShorexMgr Posted July 15 #684 Share Posted July 15 (edited) Hello, Is anyone stand by on the Voyage of the Viking 35-day cruise from Boston on July 20? Has anyone been confirmed so far? Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Stand By program. Edited July 15 by ShorexMgr 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Pete Cruiser Posted July 15 #685 Share Posted July 15 On 7/11/2024 at 9:57 PM, Northwestladybug said: Sigh. (Yet still hopeful!) Got this email this evening at 6:30 PM two days before sailing: "Standby List Update EURODAM 13JUL24 D447 Regrettably, our Standby List for your requested Alaska cruise is fully booked, however if you would like to stay on stand-by status and potentially clear as late as the day of sailing we can leave your booking active, or if you prefer, we can cancel your booking today and refund you in full. Please reply to this email with your preference; if you would like to remain on stand-by, please advise the latest time you would need to clear, and the best way to reach you if last minute space comes available." Replied: "We would like to remain on stand-by. We will be at Pier 91 in Seattle on Saturday morning, ready to board. Our contact information is: XXXXXXXXX" We haven't heard from you. Hopefully, because you are in Alaska??? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northwestladybug Posted July 15 #686 Share Posted July 15 Sigh. We came so close! But 38 minutes before departure we were turned away. 🥲. Here’s the whole sordid tale (from a post I wrote elsewhere): HAL’s stand-by program gives two options at two days before departure, if no rooms are available for stand-by: 1.) you can opt out and get your money back OR 2.) you can stay on the program all the way to 90 minutes before boarding, in hopes of a last-minute availability. We chose the second option in hopes of a last-minute cancellation. We are packed and ready to drive to the port in the morning… but our booking just completely disappeared from the website AND from the app! I have emails to prove our standby booking, full payment, and decision to continue on the stand-by list… but WHAT GIVES?? Can anyone provide any answers? We still plan to head to the port in the morning. 🤞🤞🤞 ADDENDUM: Well, we did get on a boat today, but it was the ferry, taking us back home. There were SO MANY twists and turns to this (mis)adventure — some being due to the nature of standby, but I have to say, most due to HAL’s very poor handling of the program. As I mentioned above, we opted for option 2 at the two-day mark, obligating us to be available to board, all the way up to 90 minutes before departure, and obligating HAL to keep our reservation active for the same period of time so that, should there be a no-show, a missed flight, an illness or injury, or any other possibility of a ticket holder not being able to board, we would be right there at the port to board in their place. At 7 PM on the night before departure, our booking suddenly disappeared. It was just GONE — from the website and from the app. Huh? HAL’s end of the bargain was that they would leave our active booking open. I tried to call CS, but all offices were closed. This morning at 6 AM, when CA opened again, I called and asked was going on. I was told, “Yes, we cancelled it. I can’t tell you why, but call back in an hour.” I was told that going to the port was probably a waste of time. We had upheld our end of the bargain and HAL had totally reneged on theirs! I called back at 7 AM. This time I was told that our booking was active and, in fact, we had a “STATEROOM GUARANTEE.” I asked the agent to send me an email with proof — which he did. We hopped in the car and arrived at Pier 91 terminal at 10 AM. From 10 until 2:22 PM we sat at a table where “special case” passengers were sent. I felt confident that we’d be boarding at that point. There were two very helpful HAL employees involved for these four hours. Kenneth was the go-between from the ship to check-in, and Cindy was on charge of “inventory (room) control.” He looked at my “room guarantee” and said I shouldn’t have received it — that I was on standby… but that he would do his best. Now we were back to standby status. There were two other couples with us, one in the same standby situation as us, one travel agent and her husband awaiting a room (they paid vastly reduced prices to await other boarding first — much like a pilot flying as a passenger), and another couple whose stateroom had been downgraded. They were angry and made a big fuss. After it was over they got this cruise AND TWO MORE CRUISES compted at 100! Talk about “squeaky wheel”! Both of these couples were allowed to board — and there were quite a few times in those four hours when we were sure we would be too. But ultimately, at 2:22, just 38 minutes before departure, Kenneth said “sorry guys…” We thanked him for his hard work and patience and left the terminal. The other couple, from Texas, decided to rent a car and see the Pacific Northwest. We got in an Uber, headed to the ferry terminal and took the only boat ride we’d be on today back home. I am emotionally and physically exhausted, thirsty, hungry, and very tired. (We were never offered food or water as we waited those four hours.) Will we try Holland America’s standby program again? I don’t know; ask me again tomorrow. Certainly not until they iron out some of the significant issues and not until they communicate better with their customers. I know that, once you get on a ship, Holland America’s service is the best around. But their service before boarding is really sub-standard! 3 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorenceItaly Posted July 15 #687 Share Posted July 15 WOW, what a disappointment. I am sorry it didn't work out for you. Thanks for taking the time to share with us. It is very helpful to others. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cccole Posted July 15 #688 Share Posted July 15 @Northwestladybug I too am soooooooooo sorry you are not cruising in Alaska today. From what others have said sometimes the fares can be less expensive than stand-by when booking a cabin, especially with two persons. This stand-by program seems like a disaster to me. Your outlook thru this fiasco has been exemplary!!!! Have a great summer, Cherie 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rj59 Posted July 16 #689 Share Posted July 16 I'd take the canceled reservation for what it is, and try again another time. It happened to me in April, and a few weeks ago they canceled me after I turned down the day-of option. I'm on standby for Eurodam this Saturday, but if I get the day-of option and my reservation stays, I'm not going to sit in the terminal all day. They say they will give you at least 90 minutes warning and the ship is supposed to call you, so I'd just wait someplace close--Whole Foods is less than a mile away and has a dining area where you can have drinks and relax, or the Seattle Center has a food court where you can sit with bags, or enjoy the music and people playing in the International Fountain. There are plenty of places that store luggage, using the Bounce app, so it's a way to store bags before or after a cruise--if you don't get on the ship, just enjoy the city or take a ferry or the Victoria Clipper for a mini-cruise. My standby approach was to get a discounted fare at the end of May on Zaandam, not much more expensive than standby, with $250 OBC, and after that I'm just trying standby. That way I've already had the Alaska highlights--whales, glaciers, but if I don't get on again, I'll have more money for winter cruises, when the weather here is cold and nasty. The same goes for Mexico--I have 11 nights on Zaandam booked in December at a price cheaper than standby, along with 5 other winter cruises that about the same as the current $100/nt, but I might also try standby in March/April, when demand should be lower. You can also take comfort in the fact that it's pouring rain in Alaska this week, and the ships will be at over 100% occupancy and with kids and chaos on the ship and in ports, but beautiful in WA, with outdoor concerts and festivals and people outdoor enjoying beaches and parks. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Pete Cruiser Posted July 16 #690 Share Posted July 16 2 hours ago, Northwestladybug said: Sigh. We came so close! But 38 minutes before departure we were turned away. 🥲. Here’s the whole sordid tale (from a post I wrote elsewhere): HAL’s stand-by program gives two options at two days before departure, if no rooms are available for stand-by: 1.) you can opt out and get your money back OR 2.) you can stay on the program all the way to 90 minutes before boarding, in hopes of a last-minute availability. We chose the second option in hopes of a last-minute cancellation. We are packed and ready to drive to the port in the morning… but our booking just completely disappeared from the website AND from the app! I have emails to prove our standby booking, full payment, and decision to continue on the stand-by list… but WHAT GIVES?? Can anyone provide any answers? We still plan to head to the port in the morning. 🤞🤞🤞 ADDENDUM: Well, we did get on a boat today, but it was the ferry, taking us back home. There were SO MANY twists and turns to this (mis)adventure — some being due to the nature of standby, but I have to say, most due to HAL’s very poor handling of the program. As I mentioned above, we opted for option 2 at the two-day mark, obligating us to be available to board, all the way up to 90 minutes before departure, and obligating HAL to keep our reservation active for the same period of time so that, should there be a no-show, a missed flight, an illness or injury, or any other possibility of a ticket holder not being able to board, we would be right there at the port to board in their place. At 7 PM on the night before departure, our booking suddenly disappeared. It was just GONE — from the website and from the app. Huh? HAL’s end of the bargain was that they would leave our active booking open. I tried to call CS, but all offices were closed. This morning at 6 AM, when CA opened again, I called and asked was going on. I was told, “Yes, we cancelled it. I can’t tell you why, but call back in an hour.” I was told that going to the port was probably a waste of time. We had upheld our end of the bargain and HAL had totally reneged on theirs! I called back at 7 AM. This time I was told that our booking was active and, in fact, we had a “STATEROOM GUARANTEE.” I asked the agent to send me an email with proof — which he did. We hopped in the car and arrived at Pier 91 terminal at 10 AM. From 10 until 2:22 PM we sat at a table where “special case” passengers were sent. I felt confident that we’d be boarding at that point. There were two very helpful HAL employees involved for these four hours. Kenneth was the go-between from the ship to check-in, and Cindy was on charge of “inventory (room) control.” He looked at my “room guarantee” and said I shouldn’t have received it — that I was on standby… but that he would do his best. Now we were back to standby status. There were two other couples with us, one in the same standby situation as us, one travel agent and her husband awaiting a room (they paid vastly reduced prices to await other boarding first — much like a pilot flying as a passenger), and another couple whose stateroom had been downgraded. They were angry and made a big fuss. After it was over they got this cruise AND TWO MORE CRUISES compted at 100! Talk about “squeaky wheel”! Both of these couples were allowed to board — and there were quite a few times in those four hours when we were sure we would be too. But ultimately, at 2:22, just 38 minutes before departure, Kenneth said “sorry guys…” We thanked him for his hard work and patience and left the terminal. The other couple, from Texas, decided to rent a car and see the Pacific Northwest. We got in an Uber, headed to the ferry terminal and took the only boat ride we’d be on today back home. I am emotionally and physically exhausted, thirsty, hungry, and very tired. (We were never offered food or water as we waited those four hours.) Will we try Holland America’s standby program again? I don’t know; ask me again tomorrow. Certainly not until they iron out some of the significant issues and not until they communicate better with their customers. I know that, once you get on a ship, Holland America’s service is the best around. But their service before boarding is really sub-standard! I'm sincerely sorry to hear this. I'm glad that you had a back up plan. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise Junky Posted July 16 #691 Share Posted July 16 6 hours ago, ShorexMgr said: Hello, Is anyone stand by on the Voyage of the Viking 35-day cruise from Boston on July 20? Has anyone been confirmed so far? Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Stand By program. They’re contacting fully booked passengers for a move over offer. Being that overbooked wouldn’t have good odds as a standby but you never know. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise Junky Posted July 16 #692 Share Posted July 16 Did $49 just increase to $99? I booked on my own for Alaska at $79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Haljo1935 Posted July 16 #693 Share Posted July 16 10 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said: Did $49 just increase to $99? I booked on my own for Alaska at $79 It changed at the beginning of the month when prices began including taxes & fees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise Junky Posted July 16 #694 Share Posted July 16 11 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said: It changed at the beginning of the month when prices began including taxes & fees. So they’ve taken cruises with the highest amount of taxes, Alaska, Panama, etc and made that the base price for all standby deals? I booked my own Alaska cruise, picked my cabin and knew I was going two months in advance for $112 us pp. with some OBC - not seeing the attraction of the standby rates and the amount of stress of not knowing 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Haljo1935 Posted July 16 #695 Share Posted July 16 Just now, Cruise Junky said: So they’ve taken cruises with the highest amount of taxes, Alaska, Panama, etc and made that the base price for all standby deals? I booked my own Alaska cruise, picked my cabin and knew I was going two months in advance for $112 us pp. with some OBC - not seeing the attraction of the standby rates and the amount of stress of not knowing I wondered how they landed on the prices that they did. IMO, a benefit of cruise fares being stated separately and identifying fees & taxes was actually pricing transparency. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShorexMgr Posted July 16 #696 Share Posted July 16 5 hours ago, Cruise Junky said: They’re contacting fully booked passengers for a move over offer. Being that overbooked wouldn’t have good odds as a standby but you never know. Hello, What is the move over offer? SY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShorexMgr Posted July 16 #697 Share Posted July 16 (edited) 6 hours ago, rj59 said: I'd take the canceled reservation for what it is, and try again another time. It happened to me in April, and a few weeks ago they canceled me after I turned down the day-of option. I'm on standby for Eurodam this Saturday, but if I get the day-of option and my reservation stays, I'm not going to sit in the terminal all day. They say they will give you at least 90 minutes warning and the ship is supposed to call you, so I'd just wait someplace close--Whole Foods is less than a mile away and has a dining area where you can have drinks and relax, or the Seattle Center has a food court where you can sit with bags, or enjoy the music and people playing in the International Fountain. There are plenty of places that store luggage, using the Bounce app, so it's a way to store bags before or after a cruise--if you don't get on the ship, just enjoy the city or take a ferry or the Victoria Clipper for a mini-cruise. My standby approach was to get a discounted fare at the end of May on Zaandam, not much more expensive than standby, with $250 OBC, and after that I'm just trying standby. That way I've already had the Alaska highlights--whales, glaciers, but if I don't get on again, I'll have more money for winter cruises, when the weather here is cold and nasty. The same goes for Mexico--I have 11 nights on Zaandam booked in December at a price cheaper than standby, along with 5 other winter cruises that about the same as the current $100/nt, but I might also try standby in March/April, when demand should be lower. You can also take comfort in the fact that it's pouring rain in Alaska this week, and the ships will be at over 100% occupancy and with kids and chaos on the ship and in ports, but beautiful in WA, with outdoor concerts and festivals and people outdoor enjoying beaches and parks. Hello, I am not sure it is a good idea not to wait at the pier. My brother found out the day after the cruise sailed that he had a cabin, but nobody called him or emailed him. At first, he was very disappointed, but became very upset when he found out that Holland would not refund him, because they had a cabin for him. It took a lot of arguing to finaly get his money back. I believe the big problem with the stand-by program is that it is managed by ghosts. You can not talk to anyone about it, and apparently the ghosts do not work on weekends, so they cannot call you. SY Edited July 16 by ShorexMgr 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jennjess Posted July 16 #698 Share Posted July 16 On 6/25/2024 at 7:55 PM, twilightrabbit said: I promised to share our final resolution. We waited the additional 24 hours, as I mentioned above, until about noon Friday for the Saturday sailing. Still no cabins available, so we chose to cancel at that point. I documented the whole thing on our "my travel window" channel if anyone is interested. This morning (4 days later) I received notification that my credit card had been refunded the full amount originally paid. Kudos to Holland America for that. We have another (longer) standby trip booked for November. On that occasion we will be at the port waiting until the last possible moment. For any of you in Europe, we discovered HAL does have a similar program sailing out of Amsterdam and other locations. You can't access this from the US unless you have a VPN that allows you to log in with a European IP address. Rules are a little different, but very similar. I am in Europe and just received the standby offer email. Been reading through this thread to see how others experiences have been. I am in Amsterdam so can reach the terminal in about 30 minutes or Rotterdam an hour on the train, so I'm tempted to give it try. But almost all the cruises on the list seem to be already sold out so the chances seem remote in any case. Here it is 69 euros for an inside/outside and 99 for a balcony, taxes etc. included. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShorexMgr Posted July 16 #699 Share Posted July 16 1 hour ago, jennjess said: I am in Europe and just received the standby offer email. Been reading through this thread to see how others experiences have been. I am in Amsterdam so can reach the terminal in about 30 minutes or Rotterdam an hour on the train, so I'm tempted to give it try. But almost all the cruises on the list seem to be already sold out so the chances seem remote in any case. Here it is 69 euros for an inside/outside and 99 for a balcony, taxes etc. included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShorexMgr Posted July 16 #700 Share Posted July 16 Hello, Apparently there is a different stand by list for Europe. On the American liste, there is no cruise from Amsterdam or Rotterdam. Can you share the link with us? Thanks! SY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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