Hope all are safe on the Alaska Denali cruises due to the fire

[D2bk]

On 7/6/2024 at 9:24 AM, BadgerRedux said:

Yes, I did, and it was reassuring to see the line "Cruisetour guests will receive direct communication with updates on their itineraries as we begin welcoming visitors again".  I'm wondering about the nature of those updates, if anyone is inclined to share.

We are just coming off the land portion heading to the Nieuw Amsterdam. We received NO communication from HAL at all during the past 3 days, until we would show up somewhere (stayed in 3 different cities/hotels over the last 3 days) and get the “magic envelope” that would tell us where we were going next and how we were getting there. Transport has included buses and a flight to Fairbanks (which was no where on our original itinerary), and no train ride (which WAS on our original itinerary and started running on the 2nd day of our trip.) We were told by 3 DIFFERENT HAL reps that we would get the train ride. We were told by 4 different HAL reps that we are supposed to get a letter from HAL with our compensation statement to make up for all the missed opportunities. Still haven’t gotten that.

We know they couldn’t control the fire and the fallout from that. They could have communicated though, telling us the truth, which didn’t happen.They also could have given us the option to cancel the land portion with a refund of the money we paid. No one from HAL could confirm that we would have gotten our money back. All we wanted was better communication. It’s been very frustrating, to say the least. Good luck to everyone. 

[BadgerRedux]

21 hours ago, D2bk said:

We are just coming off the land portion heading to the Nieuw Amsterdam. We received NO communication from HAL at all during the past 3 days, until we would show up somewhere (stayed in 3 different cities/hotels over the last 3 days) and get the “magic envelope” that would tell us where we were going next and how we were getting there. Transport has included buses and a flight to Fairbanks (which was no where on our original itinerary), and no train ride (which WAS on our original itinerary and started running on the 2nd day of our trip.) We were told by 3 DIFFERENT HAL reps that we would get the train ride. We were told by 4 different HAL reps that we are supposed to get a letter from HAL with our compensation statement to make up for all the missed opportunities. Still haven’t gotten that.

We know they couldn’t control the fire and the fallout from that. They could have communicated though, telling us the truth, which didn’t happen.They also could have given us the option to cancel the land portion with a refund of the money we paid. No one from HAL could confirm that we would have gotten our money back. All we wanted was better communication. It’s been very frustrating, to say the least. Good luck to everyone. 

I'm so sorry, that sounds exhausting and frustrating.  I'm sure HAL staff found it challenging to communicate when conditions were changing, but those situations are when communication and transparency are more important than ever. 

 

I hope that the compensation is something close to what feels right to you. 

[kelliebiz]

I have read that the national park resumed full operations as of today, and the railroad also. 

[packedandready]

On 7/7/2024 at 5:30 PM, D2bk said:

We are just coming off the land portion heading to the Nieuw Amsterdam. We received NO communication from HAL at all during the past 3 days, until we would show up somewhere (stayed in 3 different cities/hotels over the last 3 days) and get the “magic envelope” that would tell us where we were going next and how we were getting there. Transport has included buses and a flight to Fairbanks (which was no where on our original itinerary), and no train ride (which WAS on our original itinerary and started running on the 2nd day of our trip.) We were told by 3 DIFFERENT HAL reps that we would get the train ride. We were told by 4 different HAL reps that we are supposed to get a letter from HAL with our compensation statement to make up for all the missed opportunities. Still haven’t gotten that.

We know they couldn’t control the fire and the fallout from that. They could have communicated though, telling us the truth, which didn’t happen.They also could have given us the option to cancel the land portion with a refund of the money we paid. No one from HAL could confirm that we would have gotten our money back. All we wanted was better communication. It’s been very frustrating, to say the least. Good luck to everyone. 

We were on this mess of a land tour. Actually a hotel tour. I just read a post where an email to HAL was finally answered and was told that since it was and act of God, there would be no refund. 

[BadgerRedux]

33 minutes ago, packedandready said:

an email to HAL was finally answered and was told that since it was and act of God, there would be no refund. 

I guess HAL's view is that so long as they kept moving you from place to place (even if you cared nothing about those places and spent most of your time in transit), they could say they fulfilled the promise of a land tour to Denali National Park?  I can't imagine who thought this was the way to treat customers.  I hope that there's a communication issue and that compensation is forthcoming; sounds like @D2bk was told repeatedly that there would be at least some compensation.  

[packedandready]

1 hour ago, BadgerRedux said:

I guess HAL's view is that so long as they kept moving you from place to place (even if you cared nothing about those places and spent most of your time in transit), they could say they fulfilled the promise of a land tour to Denali National Park?  I can't imagine who thought this was the way to treat customers.  I hope that there's a communication issue and that compensation is forthcoming; sounds like @D2bk was told repeatedly that there would be at least some compensation.  

We were told by several guest services reps that HAL was working on compensation but have heard nothing. That's one of the frustrating things through all of this.....NO COMMUNICATION. We'd get letters under our door in the middle of the night. One night the letter came some time between 12:30 am and 2:30 am stating that we were being moved again and to have our luggage outside our door by 6:30am. If I were younger and slept all night, I wouldn't have known about it. 

[cccole]

Yikes...what nightmare stories.  Hope HAL steps up to the plate and makes things right, but...  HAL's treatment of it's guests is shocking and I hope those with future plans for Alaska will make the effort to arrange their non-cruise days privately.  JMO. Cherie

 

[MelJayBee]

Wondering if anyone who was on one of the Holland land tour disasters like we were has received anything other than what we finally received on the ship (a measly $100 credit). Compare the two letters from Princess and Holland even though they are owned by the same company. Not only should you arrange your non-cruise days privately, you should avoid Holland at all costs since clearly they care nothing about making difficult situations right for their guests!

[SanDiegian]

Safety first