A new HAL Blog! (Yes, I'm a HAL employee!)

[pms4104]

It is really amazing that so many people do not communicate.From HAL to Alaska Transportation Board and everyone in between.All still arguing with me that either we do not port in Anchorage or that people are booking this as a 7 Night cruise,and will be leaving the ship hence all our tours are considered intransit.

My tour was officially cancelled on Monday,received an e-mail.Money returned to my account on Thursday.Rebooked the tour through the original site I wanted to book through in the first place,alaskatours.com for Grayline.Same exact tour cost and everything.Received a confirmation from Holland America for the tour! Now go figure!!!!!!!!!After hitting the buffet my next stop will be shore excursion desk to show them how rediculous this entire experience has been.Maybe they'll have it all figured out by the August cruises.LOL

Well, there's a connection between Gray Line of Alaska and HAL ... go here: http://www.graylinealaska.com/ ... scroll to the bottom of the homepage for:

 

Copyright © 2009 by Gray Line of Alaska

Operated by Holland America Line, Inc.

300 Elliott Ave. West | Seattle, WA 98119

1.888.452.1737

glainfo@HollandAmerica.com

 

Visit other members of our travel family

Holland America Line || Carnival || Westmark Hotels

[jtl513]

Well, there's a connection between Gray Line of Alaska and HAL ... go here: http://www.graylinealaska.com/ ... scroll to the bottom of the homepage for:

 

Copyright © 2009 by Gray Line of Alaska

Operated by Holland America Line, Inc.

300 Elliott Ave. West | Seattle, WA 98119

1.888.452.1737

glainfo@HollandAmerica.com

 

Visit other members of our travel family

Holland America Line || Carnival || Westmark Hotels

I believe HAL owns GLA

[pms4104]

I believe HAL owns GLA

That I don't know ... just pasting from the GLA site. I know HAL owns Westours ... bought from Chuck West of CruiseWest.

[alpal1993]

I think it must .So why did they cancel my tour?I hope this gets straightened out before my cruise in June.I would really prefer to be picked up at the ship.Too early in the morning to be searching for a cab

[alpal1993]

Oh by the way Thanks for all your replys

[OBX-Cruisers]

It is really amazing that so many people do not communicate.From HAL to Alaska Transportation Board and everyone in between.All still arguing with me that either we do not port in Anchorage or that people are booking this as a 7 Night cruise,and will be leaving the ship hence all our tours are considered intransit.

My tour was officially cancelled on Monday,received an e-mail.Money returned to my account on Thursday.Rebooked the tour through the original site I wanted to book through in the first place,alaskatours.com for Grayline.Same exact tour cost and everything.Received a confirmation from Holland America for the tour! Now go figure!!!!!!!!!After hitting the buffet my next stop will be shore excursion desk to show them how rediculous this entire experience has been.Maybe they'll have it all figured out by the August cruises.LOL

 

It is not clear what your question is: Does the ship port in Anchorage--No it ports in Whittier and you bus or train to Anchorage. Yes most of the cruises are 7 days; the "Cruise-Tours can be anywhere from 10-14 days TOTAL or longer with the difference being how long your land tour is.

[RuthC]

It is not clear what your question is: Does the ship port in Anchorage--No it ports in Whittier and you bus or train to Anchorage.

Not the cruise the poster you are replying to is taking, though. The Amsterdam is doing a round-trip from Seattle 14-day Alaska cruise with a port stop in Anchorage---not Whittier, and not Seward.

From what I can gather, HAL does not yet have it's act together re: shore excursions at this port. It appears maybe the excursions for those ending a cruise in Anchorage and continuing on a land tour were downloaded to the 14-day cruise incorrectly?

At least that's what I think the poster is talking about. It will sort itself out by the time the Alaska season starts.

[alpal1993]

It is not clear what your question is: Does the ship port in Anchorage--No it ports in Whittier and you bus or train to Anchorage. Yes most of the cruises are 7 days; the "Cruise-Tours can be anywhere from 10-14 days TOTAL or longer with the difference being how long your land tour is.

 

We are Porting in Anchorage.New itinerary for HAL.But thank you for your post

[alpal1993]

Not the cruise the poster you are replying to is taking, though. The Amsterdam is doing a round-trip from Seattle 14-day Alaska cruise with a port stop in Anchorage---not Whittier, and not Seward.

From what I can gather, HAL does not yet have it's act together re: shore excursions at this port. It appears maybe the excursions for those ending a cruise in Anchorage and continuing on a land tour were downloaded to the 14-day cruise incorrectly?

At least that's what I think the poster is talking about. It will sort itself out by the time the Alaska season starts.

 

Thank You RuthC.I guess there has been very little communication amongst departments for this cruise.It is very stressful to have to argue with people over this.I have been saving for this cruise for 2 years and it really upsets me when people argue with me over us Porting in Anchorage.I booked this cruise back in August(first time on HAL) and I am feeling very frustrated.Never had this problem on my past 18 cruises.

[kickin904]

DBA or Copper, Would you post who the Hotel Manager and the Cruise Director will be for the Noordam May 4th, 2010, 10 day?

Best regards,

[LuckyLoon]

Hi,

 

Do you know if the trip from Vancouver Olympics to San Diego for the March 8 trip will have passengers? Or is it strictly repositioning trip, i.e. no paid passengers.

 

Just wondering if this will give them time to clean and ready the ship for the March 8 trip. Would also mean a simpler and faster boarding.

[kazu]

Hi DBA and fellow Mariners,

Just to give you an update on the Mariner discount. Some people in shipboard services need to be educated and I think that is being addressed.

So, here's the scoop, if you want to order wine, etc where you get your mariner discount, you pay full price on line, but then they give you a shipboard credit once you are on board. So, you can order a small package so you have you have your wine on at the dining room table on night one and then order the remainder.

They do recommend you check your preliminary bill though as this is relatively new. Just thought I would share in case anyone was hitting the same people I was. I don't think any of us has a hard time using that OBC. hope this helps. Jacqui

 

 

Hi Dutch,

 

just want to say that I am organizing my first meet n greet for or Panama in April. I spoke to Tia who was absolutely awesome. No forms faxed, no garbage great advice and it was done. She encouraged me to do the next one for the Nieuw Amsterdam (her ship).

 

Just tremendous, do you have the power to pass that on?

 

Compliment then question?

 

What is going on with this new Mariner thing? It's great I get a discount but I like to order before I get on board rather than wait and then be rushy. Especially with the Pinnacle. Apparently,our discounts are not recognized until we get on board.

 

Any chance they can fix the website soon? Surely they can take the discounts into account? When I sign in, they know how many stars I have. This is a real inconvenience for a planner. (seriously)

 

Just my thoughts and I am sure I am not the only one. Thanks Dutch, if you could pass it on it would be great. Jacqui

[DutchByAssociation]

Hi,

 

Do you know if the trip from Vancouver Olympics to San Diego for the March 8 trip will have passengers? Or is it strictly repositioning trip, i.e. no paid passengers.

 

Just wondering if this will give them time to clean and ready the ship for the March 8 trip. Would also mean a simpler and faster boarding.

 

Hey there,

 

Missed that there was a new post in here. Sorry about that!!!

 

The reposition was still part of the charter and as such was not available to revenue guests

[DutchByAssociation]

DBA or Copper, Would you post who the Hotel Manager and the Cruise Director will be for the Noordam May 4th, 2010, 10 day?

Best regards,

 

May might be a little far out for Cruise Director but I should have access to the Hotel Manager info. Trying to remember to look when I go to work, that's why I hadn't replied to your post yet.

 

Now that I'm feeling better I can actually compose 2 cohesive thoughts...

[DutchByAssociation]

Hi DBA and fellow Mariners,

 

Just to give you an update on the Mariner discount. Some people in shipboard services need to be educated and I think that is being addressed.

 

So, here's the scoop, if you want to order wine, etc where you get your mariner discount, you pay full price on line, but then they give you a shipboard credit once you are on board. So, you can order a small package so you have you have your wine on at the dining room table on night one and then order the remainder.

 

They do recommend you check your preliminary bill though as this is relatively new. Just thought I would share in case anyone was hitting the same people I was. I don't think any of us has a hard time using that OBC. hope this helps. Jacqui

 

Great info Jacqui. I know there are items that appear that show the discounts and read "Loyalty" but as the system is still new to basically everyone a lot of the intricacies haven't necessarily come up yet.

[alpal1993]

There seems to be a generalized mass lack of communication amongst staff.This is my first cruise on HAL I picked the cruise for the itinerary 14 Night Alaska Cruise.Anchorage will be one of our ports.HAL has forgotten to tell its Shore Excursion folks that this will be a port.I have been chastized several times by staff members telling me that The Amsterdam does not Port in Anchorage,but in Seward.Finally a supervisor (who also didn't know) and cancelled my Tour. because only intransit tours are available for Anchorage.Finally called and left me a message that my tour was back on.She never apologized for treating me like I didn't know what I was talking about( She practically called me a liar)Just talked in circles around it.

My question is who can I write to to explain my stress and unhappiness with how this situation was handled?

[DutchByAssociation]

There seems to be a generalized mass lack of communication amongst staff.This is my first cruise on HAL I picked the cruise for the itinerary 14 Night Alaska Cruise.Anchorage will be one of our ports.HAL has forgotten to tell its Shore Excursion folks that this will be a port.I have been chastized several times by staff members telling me that The Amsterdam does not Port in Anchorage,but in Seward.Finally a supervisor (who also didn't know) and cancelled my Tour. because only intransit tours are available for Anchorage.Finally called and left me a message that my tour was back on.She never apologized for treating me like I didn't know what I was talking about( She practically called me a liar)Just talked in circles around it.

My question is who can I write to to explain my stress and unhappiness with how this situation was handled?

 

Best thing I can recommend if it was a supervisor in Shore Excursions is to call Shore Excursions and ask for someone above the supervisor level. Unfortunately, I don't know the organization of that department well enough to tell you the title of or who that would be, but just as in any other customer service experience, if something (or someone) was sub-standard (and I'm sorry to hear that this is how you feel) then ask for the person that is above them.

 

Bottom line though, I'm glad the situation appears to be resolved.

[alpal1993]

Thanks Dutch by Association I think I finally found someone who is helping me with my situation Less then 100 days till I cruise Yeah!!!!!

[DutchByAssociation]

PathfinderEss provided some AWESOME pictures of Rotterdam and Statendam in San Diego. I'll have them up shortly!

[Carol28]

Hey Dutch,

 

I love HAL. We have booked a balcony guarantee and I wondered if you knew how the room are distributed?

 

We are sailing March 27 on the Eurodam and I cannot wait. Is it possible we could get a suite?

[Cruisin Suzin]

I am considering my first cruise with HAL on the NIEUW AMSTERDAM, this Feburary, do you think this ship will have those retreat cabanas? Can't seem to find that on the web site..Thanks

[jtl513]

I am considering my first cruise with HAL on the NIEUW AMSTERDAM, this Feburary, do you think this ship will have those retreat cabanas? Can't seem to find that on the web site..Thanks

They're on the deck plans ... marked as the Cabana Club

 

http://book.hollandamerica.com/fleet/deckPlan.do?ship=na&deck=o&year=next

[Cruisin Suzin]

They're on the deck plans ... marked as the Cabana Club

 

http://book.hollandamerica.com/fleet/deckPlan.do?ship=na&deck=o&year=next

 

 

Count me in :)

[DutchByAssociation]

Hey Dutch,

 

I love HAL. We have booked a balcony guarantee and I wondered if you knew how the room are distributed?

 

We are sailing March 27 on the Eurodam and I cannot wait. Is it possible we could get a suite?

 

The room assignments are completely random. Of course, you will get at least the category you booked. Yes, suites can be possible. There's no cap to how high your room assignment could be.

 

Have a great time on the Eurodam. If you think about it afterward, would love to share some photos on the blog. My email is in the signature.

[DutchByAssociation]

They're on the deck plans ... marked as the Cabana Club

 

http://book.hollandamerica.com/fleet/deckPlan.do?ship=na&deck=o&year=next

 

Ditto :) As I understand the plans to date... same thing but different name