Booking on Holland America Line

[arljay]

Booking with Holland America Line.

We just came home from a seven day cruise on Holland America and let me tell you our sad tale.

Holland America Line requires that you have a hold put on your credit card for $40.00 PER DAY PER PERSON in each cabin. Fine- but when you get back home you have to go through a horrible mess to get this hold taken off. Believe me, it is NOT WORTH IT.

All other cruise lines (at least the GOOD ones) do not require this of their passengers.

They had the best shows, and some of the greatest food (76 cruises) but they don’t trust you to pay your bill. What an insult. We have been on 14 HAL cruises and they still don’t trust us……What a shame.

Will we go on HAL again? NEVER! Until they change this stupid policy.

How could they ruin such a great line like they did since Carnival took them over.

It’s awful….

:confused:

[usha]

Could you tell us specifically what "horrible mess" you had to go through to get the hold removed from your credit card?:confused:

[jimgev]

I've found this practice to be quite common (far beyond the policy of just HAL) and have never encountered a problem. Can you be more specific in describing your difficulties?

[hammybee]

There is a frequent poster on CC who is in a senior management position with a cruise line and is known to many. He reports a rather huge increase in the number of passengers who do not have the funds to cover their expenses, at the end of the cruise. If I am not mistaken, one of his recent posts mentioned 300 passengers on a given cruise. Can you imagine?

 

Most controls imposed by merchants can be attribted to the overwhelming amount of consumer fraud and outright deadbeats, that has become all too common, well before this current economic situation.

 

If this was your business, how might you better protect yourself from consumers who have no intent on paying for their onboard purchases?

 

Hotels, rental car agencies and no doubt now, cruise lines invoke a hold amount on pending credit/debit card purchases, because the merchant does not know the final charge. When the final charge is processed, the hold is typically eliminated. I wonder what happened in your instance.

 

Regardless, I am happy that you managed to enjoy your cruise, in spite of this.

 

BTW, Holland America, on the verge of bankruptcy, was acquired by Carnival TWENTY years ago.

[hammybee]

Those who travel with any frequency, for business or pleasure, often use an Amex Card to avoid the rigmarle associated with "holds".

[taxmantoo]

The hold is automatically removed by HAL when they put through the actual charge on your account at the end of the cruise. I suspect the problem in this case may be with the OP's bank.

[cruz chic]

Those who travel with any frequency, for business or pleasure, often use an Amex Card to avoid the rigmarle associated with "holds".

Just curious.....why would Amex be different? I think I'll use my Amex in the future if it makes a difference. Thanks.

[SDHALFAN]

Booking with Holland America Line.

 

We just came home from a seven day cruise on Holland America and let me tell you our sad tale.

 

Holland America Line requires that you have a hold put on your credit card for $40.00 PER DAY PER PERSON in each cabin. Fine- but when you get back home you have to go through a horrible mess to get this hold taken off. Believe me, it is NOT WORTH IT.

All other cruise lines (at least the GOOD ones) do not require this of their passengers.

 

They had the best shows, and some of the greatest food (76 cruises) but they don’t trust you to pay your bill. What an insult. We have been on 14 HAL cruises and they still don’t trust us……What a shame.

 

Will we go on HAL again? NEVER! Until they change this stupid policy.

 

How could they ruin such a great line like they did since Carnival took them over.

It’s awful….

 

 

I'm sorry (since I am probably going to get myself in a lot of trouble here -oh gee, that would be a first:rolleyes::D) but I don't really understand your complaint. I don't find HAL's policy stupid at all. I have the money to take the cruise; I have the money to pay my bills. HAL expects that if I charge something to my account then I have the money to pay for it. I do - this "stupid policy" works for me, and for HAL.

 

Okay, HAL does impose a daily "hold" on your credit card for the duration of your cruise. However, an itemised list of whatever you have spent onboard during your cruise is presented to you the night before disembarking thereby allowing you to make any corrections before you leave the ship. If you have no problems with the accounting then the amount you owe is charged to your credit card and the daily hold is dismissed immediately. They (meaning HAL) certainly don't impose a daily hold on your credit card for the next week or two. Why on earth would you feel the need to contact your credit card company in order to have the daily hold charge dismissed?

 

You have certainly taken a lot more cruises than I have (76 as opposed to my 26), however, FYI, I just returned from a 65-day cruise aboard the ms Amsterdam where a $60.00 per person daily hold was put on my credit card. I had no problem with that whatsoever since I knew that the credit card I used could handle that (and a lot more, unfortunately for me since I did "spread the wealth" in Southeast Asia, Australia and the South Pacific: but oh what a great time I had in doing so.)

 

Sorry we won't be seeing you any time soon aboard a HAL ship because I don't think that they are going to change their "stupid policy", but I have to say in all honestly that it's your loss.

 

Valerie:)

 

p.s. I just reread your post and see that 14 of your 76 cruises have been on HAL. In my case 25 of my 26 cruises have been on HAL (tried another line and am still wondering why?).

[cruisinjudy]

Was the hold by chance on a debit card? I think I read that debit cards can be a problem in these cases.

[twinkletoes4445]

Just curious.....why would Amex be different? I think I'll use my Amex in the future if it makes a difference. Thanks.

 

I am guessing that since AMEX doesn't have a limit, you're never really aware of any holds...at least we've never been nor have we had any issues. However, if someone has a limit on a CC and they are close to that limit, the hold could cause issues if they need the credit for something else.

[djhsolara]

A suggestion and a little food for though on "why"...

 

A suggestion if you are not happy with the hold (which, BTW is clearly explained in your paperwork that you receive...so it should not have been any bit of a surprise)...you can always do cash onboard. We do not use credit cards and therefore do the cash option. When you get onboard you just have to put down a cash deposit according to whatever they require (which we have found is sometimes anywhere from a few hundred dollars to the whole amount that would be the equivalent of the amount that they would be holding on your card).

 

A little food for thought...I know this is how it works with debit cards so I don't know if it is the same with credit cards or not. When the cruiseline places a hold on your card, it is for a predetermined dollar amount ($60 per passenger per day) and amount of time (number of days of your sailing plus a few days)...which is generally a few days after your sailing. While this hold is on, your financial institution's computer system is looking for a "match" transaction each day. A match transaction would be a transaction from the same vendor for the exact same dollar amount. If that would come through, then the hold would most likely come off more quickly. If we all consider the amount of the hold that is placed (say $840 for a 7-day sailing for two), I truly doubt that the actual amount of the onboard account charge matches exactly (I'm talking dollar for dollar and cent for cent...$840.00 in the example...$840.01 would not cut it). When the actual charge goes though, since it is not a "match" transaction for the hold, your bank's computer system just assumes that it is a separate unrelated charge and the hold is not released. As I said, I do not if it is the same for credit cards, but if it is this may help you understand it a bit more.

 

It doesn't have anything to do with trust. If cruising was based on trust, we wouldn't have to pay for our sailing until we were onboard...we would just call up the cruiseline to tell them when we plan to cruise and the cruiseline would just take our word for it that we would show up without taking a deposit or full payment prior to boarding. I'm sorry, but not all successful business is based on the trust that business owners place on its customers.

[cruz chic]

I am guessing that since AMEX doesn't have a limit, you're never really aware of any holds...at least we've never been nor have we had any issues. However, if someone has a limit on a CC and they are close to that limit, the hold could cause issues if they need the credit for something else.

I don't know if my amex is different because I do have a limit on mine....but it's more then I could spend....well "should" spend:D.

[twinkletoes4445]

They had the best shows, and some of the greatest food (76 cruises) but they don’t trust you to pay your bill. What an insult. We have been on 14 HAL cruises and they still don’t trust us……What a shame.

 

I'm sorry you're having problems, and I hope you get it all worked out. As a business owner I can understand why a hold is put on in the first place. This isn't about "trust," it's about being compensated for services and/or goods you received. We require a down payment up front (cash) and if we aren't sure about our customers willingness to pay us on time, we'll bill them for the full amount up front. It is what it is. We're not a charity, nor is HAL. You'd like to think that everyone will have the funds to cover their bill at the end of the cruise, but this isn't always the case.

 

It's actually a smart thing to do (locking in funds prior to the cruise). If they didn't do this, I am sure there would be a lot of people that don't pay when they leave the ship, nor would HAL be able to collect, and those loses would be passed on down to the rest of us that do pay.

 

This isn't something that's unique to HAL. I do hope you're able to clear up this issue though. That's why we always use our AMEX. We don't have a clue if there's a hold on our account, and if there is, it doesn't have any bearing on the credit limit (or our checking account should you use a debit card).

 

Good luck!

[twinkletoes4445]

I don't know if my amex is different because I do have a limit on mine....but it's more then I could spend....well "should" spend:D.

 

Ours is through AMEX and we've never had a limit, not that I know of. We use ours for business travel and personal use. It's somewhat dangerous in that you have to pay it off each month, so that keeps me in line...lol I think they must watch what you spend because there have been things we've bought that I was stunned that they didn't ask us to call them.

[Charliesmom]

This practice has been going on for years. Did the OP have a long hiatus between the last cruise they took and this one?

 

Roberta

[haligonian37]

Oops, double post!

[haligonian37]

Booking with Holland America Line.

 

We just came home from a seven day cruise on Holland America and let me tell you our sad tale.

 

Holland America Line requires that you have a hold put on your credit card for $40.00 PER DAY PER PERSON in each cabin. Fine- but when you get back home you have to go through a horrible mess to get this hold taken off. Believe me, it is NOT WORTH IT.

All other cruise lines (at least the GOOD ones) do not require this of their passengers.

 

They had the best shows, and some of the greatest food (76 cruises) but they don’t trust you to pay your bill. What an insult. We have been on 14 HAL cruises and they still don’t trust us……What a shame.

 

Will we go on HAL again? NEVER! Until they change this stupid policy.

 

How could they ruin such a great line like they did since Carnival took them over.

It’s awful….

:confused:

 

Ok, so I'm confused......are you the same arljay who posted this message three years ago?:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=2861450&highlight=#post2861450

[RuthC]

Ok, so I'm confused......are you the same arljay who posted this message three years ago?:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=2861450&highlight=#post2861450

 

Good find! ;)

[matondo]

It sounds like you were either using a debit card or you were very close to your credit limit. You might want to get a credit card that you would just use for your cruise and don't use it for anything else until you get it paid off.

[Sleepladypalmdesert]

This policy seemed to be explained fairly well before my cruise in Septemeber. We did not have any issues at all. Once we signed, our card was released for other charges during the remainder of our holiday. It was certainly fair for us. Certainly no headaces or "horrible mess."

 

I do think it is funny that several years ago this same OP had an issue with this policy, so should not have been surprised at the policy and prepared accordingly for it.

 

Huh!?!

[RuthC]

I do think it is funny that several years ago this same OP had an issue with this policy, so should not have been surprised at the policy and prepared accordingly for it.

 

Huh!?!

And that several years ago it was OP's "last" HAL cruise. :rolleyes:

[djhsolara]

...and being fairly new to HAL I certainly do not know what their website said in 2005, however here is what is says now...

 

 

Shipboard Account

Our cashless society is designed to make your life on board as simple as possible. When you board the ship, your account has already been activated and you may make purchases by simply showing your guest identification card and signing a receipt. On embarkation day, you will need to register your credit or debit card (Holland America Line Rewards™ Visa®, Visa®, Mastercard®, American Express®, Discover®) in order to use your onboard account for shipboard purchases. Your card will be pre-authorized for US$60 per person for each day of your cruise. At the end of your cruise, you will receive a final statement, and your card will be charged only for the actual amount of your purchases. Please inform your credit or debit card issuer in advance that your card will be used on a Holland America Line ship. This will help prevent delays in obtaining pre-authorization on board. Some banks may keep the pre-authorization in place for up to 30 days. If you do not want to use a credit or debit card, the ship will collect a cash deposit from you at time of boarding in the same pre-authorization amount. Any excess deposit will be refunded to you at the end of the cruise. Travelers checks may be cashed at the front office to make your deposit. Personal checks are not accepted on board.

 

 

...and 28 posts since 2005...seems like someone comes on here just to gripe...:eek:

[bepsf]

...and 28 posts since 2005...seems like someone comes on here just to gripe...:eek:

 

[English_in_Spain]

I don't know what cruise line the OP is going to switch to as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity do the same thing. I don't know about NCL.

[Sundagger]

I don't know if my amex is different because I do have a limit on mine....but it's more then I could spend....well "should" spend:D.

 

I have an AMEX issued by my financial services company - it does have a limit - high enough to buy a new car.:D It does give cash back and has a 4% interest rate, so I don't mind the generous limit. When I buy gas with it, there is always a $65 hold placed, even if the charge is for $15.

 

Oh, it's black in color.