No More Hal

[ianturner]

My wife & I had booked a grand suite on Westerdam to sail on 11/04/2007,

HAL never let us or our TA know the ship had been charterd for this date.

This trip was to have been a treet for our daughter.

We found out through HAL'S website when the cruise for that week and the folowing had disapered.

This was a huge disapointment and HAL ofered no help at all.

We had sailed on the old Westerdam & Zyderdam several times but I do not think there will be another.

[jtl513]

Is there some special significance to the 11/04 date? If not, what difference would a week or two one way or the other make? :confused: If there's something special about the date, what about picking a different ship?

[ianturner]

There were no large cabins left on any other week, or so we were told,

The date is important due to the fact my daughter is a long haul trucker & can only be off a certian times.

[james j feller]

JT,

 

That is not the point, what if that was the only time they had off.

 

HAL is screwing themselves over and over.

 

Read my message.

 

 

JAMES J FELLER

[MBeamTX]

Charters happen, it's a fact of life on all of the mass market lines. Your chosen date is nearly a year out, so it's not as if you were dumped at the last minute. Why not look at other alternatives? It's far better to be dropped from a charter than to end up on a ship that's 60% chartered by a group. Now that would be a real nightmare.

 

Happy cruising,

Susan

[ianturner]

We did allready on RCCL have sailed them 12 times with no problem !!!!!!!!!!!

[xpcdoojk]

My wife & I had booked a grand suite on Westerdam to sail on 11/04/2007,

HAL never let us or our TA know the ship had been charterd for this date.

This trip was to have been a treet for our daughter.

We found out through HAL'S website when the cruise for that week and the folowing had disapered.

This was a huge disapointment and HAL ofered no help at all.

We had sailed on the old Westerdam & Zyderdam several times but I do not think there will be another.

 

All of the cruiselines take charters and they do exactly what happened to you a year out. So, I guess, logically, this means you are giving up on cruising?

 

Logic is important and emotion justs feels.....

 

jc

[ianturner]

No Just Hal...

[xpcdoojk]

JT,

 

That is not the point, what if that was the only time they had off.

 

HAL is screwing themselves over and over.

 

Read my message.

 

 

JAMES J FELLER

 

You have been a member of CC for long enough to know all of the cruiselines do this. Which tends to make me think you just want to grind an axe.

 

jc:rolleyes:

[xpcdoojk]

No Just Hal...

 

Cool! I can't wait to read when you have a ship chartered on another line because it happens all of the time.:rolleyes:

 

jc

[ianturner]

bull, at the very least we should have been notified.

[xpcdoojk]

OK, doubting Thomases.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=451612

 

this is currently in the RCI forum

 

nanner10 vbmenu_register("postmenu_8493835", true);

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Aug 2004

Location: Northampton, MA

Posts: 497

 

 

Dumped by RCCL

Can I vent for a few minutes??

 

Well, it is offical, RCCL has cancelled the 12 night Legend 6/24/07 Italy and Croatia cruise for a 6 day charter and a 6 day "special" cruise to fill the 12 day gap.

 

After a month of getting the run around that the sailing was "Closed for Inventory Management (which) means that the Revenue department has closed the sailing due to making changes to either itinerary, pricing, staterooms etc "

 

NOT!!!! Obviously they were negotiating this deal!

 

In my honest opinion:

I gotta say right now I am feeling like RCCL respects me as an individual customer about as much as a used tissue.

 

Yup, I know that they can do this anytime they want and they do, but, when it happens to you it really feels like #*?@. I guess we should be happy that a offered us $100pp OBC for the inconvenience of rescheduling to another sailing (which is not a good date for us and will require a good deal of scrambling around to work out the personal details), however, unfortunately it really doesn't feel like much for what this cancellation means to us. We would much rather have had the sailing date stay the same.

 

But, what can you do? Nothing. So for now, I am trying to follow my own mantra: "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst and roll with the punches" and move on.

 

Okay, I am done!

 

 

Do you two have anything else to say other than you feel foolish?:D

 

jc

[airlink diva]

First of all, I hate to hear that the date that you arranged is no longer offered due to a charter group. But if you go on any of the major cruiselines threads on this website, you will noticed that charters have bumped others from cruises. While to you and me, we are upset, the cruiselines are looking at a business move.

They sell the rooms at a premium rate and often make more money on these sailing than on a regular sailing. They will try to offer you another date and credits (it's varies) to move. But in your case, not getting the room or the dates due to your daughter's schedule don't work in your factor.

You do have the factor of enough time to make plans. Prehaps there's another cruiseline that have the dates, the rooms, and the ports that you want. Check and see. Prehaps you should try HAL at another time. But the situation with charters can happen with any of cruiselines.

Overall, a cruise is a great value for the price and don't let this one thing prevent you from cruising!!

[jtl513]

JT,

That is not the point, what if that was the only time they had off.

 

Which is why I said: "If there's something special about the date, what about picking a different ship?"

 

If this happened three or four months from the sailing date I would agree with the OP that it was something to be upset about, but with 11 months to go there's lots of other options.

[bepsf]

We found out through HAL'S website when the cruise for that week and the folowing had disapered.

This was a huge disapointment and HAL ofered no help at all.

 

Um, 11 months out and you're this upset?

It's not surprising that HAL has yet to contact passengers and make deals to move them to other cruises if this only recently occurred - give them a chance to contact you first through your TA before you get too upset.

Also being a year away, most employers do understand that vacation plans can change...

[shonuf]

This happened to us a few months ago when we originally booked the Zuiderdam for Jan. 27, 07. Booked the suites we wanted, got our hotel rooms in Ft. Lauderdale, started a roll call and were getting ready to book our airfare. My roll call got a response, just not the one I wanted. The poster informed me that our cruise was a charter (and not one we'd be eligible for). I went to the group web-site and verified the date. Sure enough, there it was. I called my TA who told me I didn't know what I was talking about. I finally convinced him to call HAL and it took several conversations with them before they finally confirmed the charter. Meanwhile, we had to start looking for other dates (Zuiderdam and the itinerary were the 1st choice of both couples involved); the next week was SuperBowl weekend and the airfare doubled and hotel booking was problematic. Preceeding week was a full charter also, so we ended up backing up two weeks. As the cruise was still many months out, we were able to get our original suites again.

 

Hope things work out for you in the end. Surely this far out you can find another date or another ship that will work for you.

[MBeamTX]

If you think you are immune from having your plans upended by Royal Caribbean, you may be in for a rude shock someday. Earlier this year we booked a transatlantic sailing on Jewel of the Seas in September 2007. The itinerary was unique and wonderful, and we were thrilled with the price. A few weeks later, the sailing was closed to bookings and people got runaround excuses from RCCL. Ultimately, our sailing was cancelled and replaced with a much more expensive European sailing because the cruise line decided to keep the ship in Europe longer for some drydocking that could only be scheduled later in the fall.

 

Instead of a September transatlantic on a northern route, we could switch to Jewel's December transatlantic with a boring southern route. No Normany, Ireland, Nova Scotia or Newfoundland. I was furious and disappointed over the loss of this itinerary. And the offer of compensation? $100 OBC only if you switched to the December transatlantic. We declined. Lots of other sailings from Boston were affected, and they too had very limited options for switching the booking with OBC. But it was 14 or 15 months out, so you get over it.

 

It may not always be a charter, but plenty of things can change schedules. If you want certainty, maybe cruising isn't the best vacation for you.

 

Susan

[cruznon]

It is a upsetting when your cruise is cancelled because of a charter, but having 11 months notice does give you lots of time to rearrange travel plans. I agree with Brian--wait and see what HAL might offer or help you rearrange.

[azsunshine]

"It may not always be a charter, but plenty of things can change schedules. If you want certainty, maybe cruising isn't the best vacation for you."

Why do people say things like this? it is so judgemental. I am sure cruising is for this person, they have cruised before and want to cruise again. get over yourself.

 

 

 

[Copper10-8]

JT,

 

That is not the point, what if that was the only time they had off.

 

HAL is screwing themselves over and over.

 

Read my message.

 

 

JAMES J FELLER

 

Mr. Feller, just being curious: what exactly is your message (I'm trying to read it as you suggest but I can't find it) and how is HAL screwing themsleves over and over? Thank you kindly!:)

[james j feller]

COPPER10-8,

 

Look down the thread board under HOLLAND and read "Was NOORDAM PRICING ERROR NOW ROTTERDAM PRICING ERROR"

 

Thank you,

 

JIM

[MBeamTX]

get over yourself.

 

 

 

 

[sarcasm] Thanks, I'll take that advice to heart. [/sarcasm]

 

My post wasn't intended to be judgemental and I can't imagine where you got that impression. I was relating my own experience. It may not be everyone else's experience, but it's just as valid. And I wasn't saying, don't cruise, period. I'm only pointing out that many cruisers tend to make plans very far out, certainly earlier than the average traveler plans a trip to Vegas or Orlando. We do it so we can get the ship and the dates and the cabin that we want. But planning early entails some risk that the cruiseline will change its plans, thereby changing your plans whether you want them to or not. If you can't accept that planning early may mean having to re-plan that vacation a year out, then cruising isn't the most risk-free choice. That's not judgemental. That's just a fact, in my own experience.

 

Disneyland is a wonderful vacation option for many people. But my dad is 76 and uses a wheelchair. So it's not the best vacation option for him. Is it an insult if I say that to him? Nope. I don't ski. You tell me that Aspen isn't my best vacation choice, I'm not going to get my undies in a bundle.

 

So maybe before you're snotty back to a poster, why not ask and make sure they meant to be snotty in the first place? Especially when the alleged snottiness was not even directed at you.

 

Happy cruising,

Susan

[Pam in CA]

Ian, come and join us on the "new" Royal Princess on 11/4/07 -- 12 days Athens to Venice, including the Holy Land and Egypt. We've got a great group going. The new Royal Princess is one of the former Renaissance ships, smaller and very elegant.

[PRINSENDAM]

"It may not always be a charter, but plenty of things can change schedules. If you want certainty, maybe cruising isn't the best vacation for you."

 

Why do people say things like this? it is so judgemental. I am sure cruising is for this person, they have cruised before and want to cruise again. get over yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think Susan was being judgemental. Ships being ships... things change. Could be a charter, sinking, fire, grounding or hurricane. If you cannot be flexible with your vacation dates a year out, you have to be at least prepared if something goes wrong and your cruise gets cancelled. It isn't only ships, airline departures.... weather... anything can cause a cencellation. Damned annoying I agree. Thankfully it doesn't happen 99.9% of the time.

 

Stephen

[jtl513]

So maybe before you're snotty back to a poster, why not ask and make sure they meant to be snotty in the first place? Especially when the alleged snottiness was not even directed at you.

 

Touche! :) FWIW, I understood (I think) where you were coming from, and didn't think your comment was snotty!