Consumer Complaint Websites that Cruise Lines pay attention

[RagnarDanneskjold]

Hello all, could someone point me to consumer complaint websites that cruise lines pay more attention to?

I booked a cruise, it didn't even start and it is already turning into a nightmare. Consumer service is horrible, unpolite, with only boilerplate answers, no effort at all to solve anything and even worse: I was straight out lied to by the cruise line and they simply won't take responsability for it and even threatened me with fines after I questioned them about those lies with evidence of it. Very disappointed and I wanted to find the best possible places to make others aware of this.

 

Thank you in advance.

[CDNPolar]

Personally not aware of any sites that you would go to that are specific to cruise lines.

 

Sorry.

 

 

[MacMadame]

Social Media.

[Flatbush Flyer]

If you have a truly legitimate case for refunds or compensation related to travel, a great resource is Elliott.org which is a non-profit consumer advocacy organization started by syndicated travel columnist/ombudsman Christopher Elliott. 

[sparks1093]

If you are able to, without losing a lot, it might be best to just cancel the cruise. I doubt that it will get any better and the only thing that might get their attention is money going out of the door.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

just so that everyone is aware what OP is complaining about....

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2992020-suggestion-on-flight-after-arrival-in-rotterdam/

 

his family wants to get off the cruise earlier, in a different port, and HAL won't let him.

[CDNPolar]

11 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

just so that everyone is aware what OP is complaining about....

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2992020-suggestion-on-flight-after-arrival-in-rotterdam/

 

his family wants to get off the cruise earlier, in a different port, and HAL won't let him.

 

Thanks - I knew that because I searched his other posts, but aware that others did not - so thanks for clearing this up.

 

I don't understand why people don't get that "immigration" laws and rules come into boarding and disembarking a cruise ship.  It is not the cruise line itself that is prohibiting an early departure... as a matter of fact, they should not care.

Edited March 1 by CDNPolar

[Hlitner]

I think the OP is simply a victim of their own "unforced error."  They booked a post cruise flight that is outside of their own comfort level.  They than decided to get off their cruise, one day early, at a different port.  That request was denied by the cruise line because of the port's own rules (which is generally by government authority dictate).  In this particular case, the cruise line is not the bad guy.  The OP wants an early disembarkation in the UK, which is a country known for having some very strict rules (such as requiring a face-to-face with an immigration officer).

 

I would simply advise any cruiser to give a lot of consideration to one's own risk tolerance when making pre or post cruise plans.  That is why many experienced cruisers fly-in one or more days early and will often spend at least 1 night post-cruise in a hotel.  

 

I do not see where any consumer ombudsman or site is going to be very helpful for the OP.  If they are truly unhappy with their post cruise flights they should consider changing them (even if there is a penalty) and consider it a lesson learned.

 

Hank

[RagnarDanneskjold]

I see many people here like to assume a lot without knowing what they are talking about, so if the people assuming all those things are actually interested in what is going on, I'll make things clear in this post. But, first of all, I would like to thank every person that actually took the time to try to post something actually helpful, specially to @Flatbush Flyer. Thank you very much, I'm checking Elliot's website and it is very interesting. I think I'll be able to use that indeed.

 

So, if anyone is interested: What happened is that HAL sent me an e-mail denying the early disembarkation with the justification that the Port of Dover "reached its capacity in allowing guests to disembarkation on that date".

I then personally called the Port of Dover, specifically the Cruise Sector of the Port of Dover and explained the situation. I was told that there would be no problems or impediments for us to disembark in the Port of Dover, as long as our Passports are valid(which they are, obviously) and we did not need a Visa(which we don't, since we're brazilians and brazilians do not need a Visa to get in the UK). So essentially, the person from HAL lied

 

We never booked any flights until this point. I obvisouly wanted to make sure that this was possible before booking any flights.

 

In the e-mail which contained the denial of the early disembarkation, it said that if I has any other inquiries about the subject, I should reply to hal_reservations@hollandamerica.com. So what I did was to confront HAL with the above mentioned information, politely, obviously. Unfortunately I never got an answer. I called them and they told me to wait a few days to get a reply to the e-mail I sent. I waited until the day they told me to and no reply came. I called again and this time the representative kept me on hold for a very long time aledgedly because she was talking to her supervisor whose name I was never told. She then told me that the so called supervisor told her that they refused to answer my e-mail in writing because I had already gotten their first e-mail and that the reason was not the Port of Dover, but a fee that HAL had to pay for each guest that disembarks there. So I asked what that fee was, because depending on the value, I would happily pay it for me and my wife. Another long time waiting and I was told that "they had no way of knowing what that fee was and threatened me with fines of "thousands of dollars"(their words) if we disembarked without HAL's consent(which I never said I would do). All this, specially the constant changing of story, shows that indeed someone or everyone there is lying.

 

After all this, we bought our tickets to Vienna from the Netherlands on the 21st with plenty of time to spare, even though this was not what we wanted to do, because we don't want any trouble. But, neverthless, I was suprised with the unpoliteness and lack of respect I got from a company that is supposed to be an "upper end" Cruise Line, as I was told.

 

So essentially, what I want is actually alert others about the kind of treatment they can get from HAL and see if the people enganging in this kind of behavior in the company are held accountable for doing this.

[chengkp75]

15 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

If you have a truly legitimate case for refunds or compensation related to travel, a great resource is Elliott.org which is a non-profit consumer advocacy organization started by syndicated travel columnist/ombudsman Christopher Elliott. 

Does Elliott provide advocacy for cruises sold outside the US, for non-US passengers,  for a cruise that does not call in the US?

 

 

[Flatbush Flyer]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Does Elliott provide advocacy for cruises sold outside the US, for non-US passengers,  for a cruise that does not call in the US?

 

 

I don’t know. The SF Chronicle bo longer carries his syndicated travel ombudsman column, which I seem to remember often dealt with issues that involved North Americans traveling abroad. 
That said, I do know that his Elliott.org staff will, at least, reply to reasonable issue requests by providing good contact info for company leadership folks that can get consumers one step closer t solving their own problems.

I also know that when he chose to write about a travel issue with carriers that included land, air and sea, he usually got results. So, can’t hurt to try Elliott since there’s no charge for the service (though donations to the non-profit are always welcome).

[MacMadame]

9 hours ago, RagnarDanneskjold said:

All this, specially the constant changing of story, shows that indeed someone or everyone there is lying.

MacMadame's version of Hanlon's Razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.” 🤣

 

Anyway, sorry you are getting the runaround from HAL. If HAL has an ombudsman like some lines do, you can get their attention by posting on HAL's social media and tagging them. That often yields results from what I've seen.

The United States government has an official organization to complain to about cruise line issues. You said you are Brazilian, but HAL is owned by Carnival Corp which is headquartered in the US so it's worth a shot:
https://www.fmc.gov/resources-services/cruise-passenger-assistance/

[Actuality251]

On 2/29/2024 at 10:16 AM, RagnarDanneskjold said:

Hello all, could someone point me to consumer complaint websites that cruise lines pay more attention to?

I booked a cruise, it didn't even start and it is already turning into a nightmare. Consumer service is horrible, unpolite, with only boilerplate answers, no effort at all to solve anything and even worse: I was straight out lied to by the cruise line and they simply won't take responsability for it and even threatened me with fines after I questioned them about those lies with evidence of it. Very disappointed and I wanted to find the best possible places to make others aware of this.

 

Thank you in advance.

 

On 3/2/2024 at 1:14 AM, MacMadame said:

MacMadame's version of Hanlon's Razor: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.” 🤣

 

Anyway, sorry you are getting the runaround from HAL. If HAL has an ombudsman like some lines do, you can get their attention by posting on HAL's social media and tagging them. That often yields results from what I've seen.

The United States government has an official organization to complain to about cruise line issues. You said you are Brazilian, but HAL is owned by Carnival Corp which is headquartered in the US so it's worth a shot:
https://www.fmc.gov/resources-services/cruise-passenger-assistance/

 

[Actuality251]

TripAdvisor gets a lot of visits for cruise complaints. So does TrustPilot. I don’t know what the cruise lines pay attention to, if anything. Good luck. 

Edited March 23 by Actuality251

[Actuality251]

On 3/1/2024 at 3:42 PM, RagnarDanneskjold said:

I see many people here like to assume a lot without knowing what they are talking about, so if the people assuming all those things are actually interested in what is going on, I'll make things clear in this post. But, first of all, I would like to thank every person that actually took the time to try to post something actually helpful, specially to @Flatbush Flyer. Thank you very much, I'm checking Elliot's website and it is very interesting. I think I'll be able to use that indeed.

 

So, if anyone is interested: What happened is that HAL sent me an e-mail denying the early disembarkation with the justification that the Port of Dover "reached its capacity in allowing guests to disembarkation on that date".

I then personally called the Port of Dover, specifically the Cruise Sector of the Port of Dover and explained the situation. I was told that there would be no problems or impediments for us to disembark in the Port of Dover, as long as our Passports are valid(which they are, obviously) and we did not need a Visa(which we don't, since we're brazilians and brazilians do not need a Visa to get in the UK). So essentially, the person from HAL lied

 

We never booked any flights until this point. I obvisouly wanted to make sure that this was possible before booking any flights.

 

In the e-mail which contained the denial of the early disembarkation, it said that if I has any other inquiries about the subject, I should reply to hal_reservations@hollandamerica.com. So what I did was to confront HAL with the above mentioned information, politely, obviously. Unfortunately I never got an answer. I called them and they told me to wait a few days to get a reply to the e-mail I sent. I waited until the day they told me to and no reply came. I called again and this time the representative kept me on hold for a very long time aledgedly because she was talking to her supervisor whose name I was never told. She then told me that the so called supervisor told her that they refused to answer my e-mail in writing because I had already gotten their first e-mail and that the reason was not the Port of Dover, but a fee that HAL had to pay for each guest that disembarks there. So I asked what that fee was, because depending on the value, I would happily pay it for me and my wife. Another long time waiting and I was told that "they had no way of knowing what that fee was and threatened me with fines of "thousands of dollars"(their words) if we disembarked without HAL's consent(which I never said I would do). All this, specially the constant changing of story, shows that indeed someone or everyone there is lying.

 

After all this, we bought our tickets to Vienna from the Netherlands on the 21st with plenty of time to spare, even though this was not what we wanted to do, because we don't want any trouble. But, neverthless, I was suprised with the unpoliteness and lack of respect I got from a company that is supposed to be an "upper end" Cruise Line, as I was told.

 

So essentially, what I want is actually alert others about the kind of treatment they can get from HAL and see if the people enganging in this kind of behavior in the company are held accountable for doing this.

 

[Actuality251]

Put it on Trip Advisor and Trust Pilot. But try to edit it down a little.People will be more likely to read it. Consumers count on information like this. 

Edited March 23 by Actuality251

[donaldsc]

My comment is that the OP requested that HAL do something that is outside of their normal policy and then the OP is complaining that HAL will not do it.  Then they expect some sympathy from the rest of us.  Sorry but not from me.  Why would they expect to be allowed early disembarkation and did they check to see if they were going to be allowed before they booked the cruise.

 

DON

[Actuality251]

2 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

My comment is that the OP requested that HAL do something that is outside of their normal policy and then the OP is complaining that HAL will not do it.  Then they expect some sympathy from the rest of us.  Sorry but not from me.  Why would they expect to be allowed early disembarkation and did they check to see if they were going to be allowed before they booked the cruise.

 

DON

 

[Actuality251]

I see your point, Don. But readers can make their own judgments. The more information, the better. 

[RagnarDanneskjold]

4 hours ago, Actuality251 said:

Put it on Trip Advisor and Trust Pilot. But try to edit it down a little.People will be more likely to read it. Consumers count on information like this. 

To be honest, I talked with HAL and in the end, they granted me and my wife some features in our cruise to make up for the inconvenience. It is expected that any company may have some bad apples and that may or may not be representative of the company itself. Despite all the problems, so far(I hope I don't change my mind after the cruise itself), they ended up making an effort to please us and after some negotiation, make up for the trouble and inconvenience caused by some people in their costumer service. 

Edited March 23 by RagnarDanneskjold

[Actuality251]

10 minutes ago, RagnarDanneskjold said:

To be honest, I talked with HAL and in the end, they granted me and my wife some features in out cruise to make up for the inconvenience. It is expected that any company may have some bad apples and that may or may not be representative of the company itself. Despite all the problems, so far(I hope I don't change my mind after the cruise itself), they ended up making an effort to please us and after some negotiation, make up for the trouble and inconvenience cause by some people in their costumer service. 

 

Edited March 23 by Actuality251
Have a great cruise.

[RagnarDanneskjold]

2 minutes ago, Actuality251 said:

 

Thank you very much!

[Flatbush Flyer]

Have a legitimate cruise issue? Connect with syndicated travel columnist, Christopher Elliott whose non-profit advocacy group, Elliott.org can (and does) a lot to make things right.