My PCC is 'gone'!

[MaxThrusters]

After a long seven-year absence from cruising, my partner and I booked something for March-April 2025 and used a HAL PCC for the first time. She was great! We were all on the same page about what to add-on (like Club Orange) and she secured for us the cabin we wanted which ship inventory had not released for the full 24 day cruise (I suppose keeping it seperate to generate more revenue?). Anyway, her help was much appreciated. She was also so personable too.

After that was done, I learned I could switch our reservation to a big-box retailer's travel division and would get a gift-card for their store valued at around $900 - $1000. We talked about it, and decided that because our PCC had been so helpful that we would forgo this because we didn't want her to lose any commission or whatever from her work for us. This was a few months ago.

Fast forward to today, and I am now receiving HAL offers with some other PCC names on them; I tried emailing our PCC we had worked with, but the mail bounced back from HAL as invalid. Of course, now that it's after the 60 day original booking date it is too late to move the reservation to a travel agent, and if we up and cancel to re-book we may well lose the cabin and other things we we really wanted.

I guess I am wondering if this is an unusual situation? Is there a large turnover in HAL PCCs, and I should have just gone with the big-box travel agency from the get go? It feels like there is a lesson to learn here, but I am not quite sure what it is!

Details: It's a 24 day cruise with have-it-all and club orange on Konigsdam and we secured cabin V8032 for the price of a fully obstructed.

 

[oaktreerb]

HAL does not inform you when your PCC leaves his/her position or the company.  It sounds like you are happy with the booking.  You will love Club Orange and you got the upgrade that comes with it.  HAL has recently put into place a very unpopular policy of trying to increase the occupancy of staterooms.  You have a stateroom that shows a 3 person max occupancy so watch your booking to make sure they don’t move you to a 2 person stateroom.

 

As far as the transfer to another agency, you stayed with your PCC because she gave you good service.  The cash card would have been nice.  We recently received a large cash card from the same agency and now we have to spend it.  Ours was also a long cruise.  The e-mail for the cash card must have gone to junk mail and we had to follow up several times to get the card.

 

 I’m pretty sure the HAL agency transfer window has shortened to two weeks.

 

Have a great cruise.

[Haljo1935]

32 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

...I’m pretty sure the HAL agency transfer window has shortened to two weeks.

Why do you say that?

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

I’m pretty sure the HAL agency transfer window has shortened to two weeks.

We did an onboard booking (direct) on our last  cruise and were told we had 60 days to transfer to TA, if we wished.

[oaktreerb]

51 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

Why do you say that?

No, I just checked.  It is 60 days.  Mine was transferred in Jan 2023 and for some reason I felt pressured to get the transfer done.  I felt guilty because I have a great PCC and he was so nice about the transfer.  He said he would still get some credit for the booking.  It was so much money I couldn’t pass it up!

 

@Haljo1935Thanks for catching that error.  It is too late to make the correction to my post.

[57redbird]

4 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

HAL does not inform you when your PCC leaves his/her position or the company.  It sounds like you are happy with the booking.  You will love Club Orange and you got the upgrade that comes with it.  HAL has recently put into place a very unpopular policy of trying to increase the occupancy of staterooms.  You have a stateroom that shows a 3 person max occupancy so watch your booking to make sure they don’t move you to a 2 person stateroom.

 

As far as the transfer to another agency, you stayed with your PCC because she gave you good service.  The cash card would have been nice.  We recently received a large cash card from the same agency and now we have to spend it.  Ours was also a long cruise.  The e-mail for the cash card must have gone to junk mail and we had to follow up several times to get the card.

 

 I’m pretty sure the HAL agency transfer window has shortened to two weeks.

 

Have a great cruise.

Will our PCC notify us if there is a cabin change?  We are in a bump cabin that also can accomodate 3.

[MaxThrusters]

I forgot to mention it, but yes the window to transfer a booking is 60 days. It was not always so however: I remember anytime up until final payment date was allowed some years ago (eg more than seven years ago).

We are in the highest category within Verandah, so If HAL wants to move us to make room for 3 people in our booked cabin that is fine so long as we are provided with a free upgrade (or maybe even with a reasonable up-charge) to a Signature Suite or above. I've had that offer before on past sailings.

[oaktreerb]

11 hours ago, 57redbird said:

Will our PCC notify us if there is a cabin change?  We are in a bump cabin that also can accomodate 3.

 7 day holiday cruises seem to be most at risk, especially with kids sail free promo.  Talk to your PCC if you are concerned.  It’s one of those policy changes that has been discussed recently on CC so it’s good to be aware.

[WriterOnDeck]

I'm not sure you would get bumped to a higher category if they want your triple, but certainly not to a lower. You might end up with the same category but not a location you like as well. Look in the HAL Cruise Critic threads and you will find more than one about this new policy, which apparently doesn't grandfather earlier bookings.

 

I use a travel agency (not the big box one as I don't use that much toilet paper!) that is wonderful to work with. I see a lot of posts about PCCs who come and go. I think since the pandemic there's more turnover. I think that's a risk you take with PCCs (who don't seem to provide as much benefit as my TA). Just my $.02 worth.