HAL- what are you doing?

[mezza]

Having read lots of good reviews about HAL, i booked a 16 n on the Oosterdam for S America,2010. Just weeks after depositing, HAL cancelled that trip and replaced it with the Veendam, same itinerary. Early this year, they cancelld the Veendam and replaced it with the Rotterdam - similar itinerary but different. No thanks, I preferred the Oosterdam and fed up with HAL's changes, I put the deposit on the Oosterdam Sea of Cortez trip. Only 1 week after the confirmation they have changed the dates so that we cannot do the trip and have to cancel. So, two bookings and 3 changes by HAL in a matter of months. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HAL???? :mad: If you intend making changes then DON"T LIST the itineraries !!

 

You have lost me HAL - I will happily go on my next trip on the Westerdam, because I am looking forward to it, but after that......?? Hal has not provided me with any incentive to keep supporting them, rather they leave the impression of a line with inefficient and dispassionate management, that is not in line with their logo!! :(

[kryos]

Having read lots of good reviews about HAL, i booked a 16 n on the Oosterdam for S America,2010. Just weeks after depositing, HAL cancelled that trip and replaced it with the Veendam, same itinerary. Early this year, they cancelld the Veendam and replaced it with the Rotterdam - similar itinerary but different. No thanks, I preferred the Oosterdam and fed up with HAL's changes, I put the deposit on the Oosterdam Sea of Cortez trip. Only 1 week after the confirmation they have changed the dates so that we cannot do the trip and have to cancel. So, two bookings and 3 changes by HAL in a matter of months. WHAT ARE YOU DOING HAL???? :mad: If you intend making changes then DON"T LIST the itineraries !!

HAL's got troubles this late this year into next. A ship or two committed to the Winter Olympics in Vancouver next year, plus a series of extensive drydocks. They are being forced to juggle itineraries around, eliminating the less profitable ones, and trying to stretch their fleet to accommodate the more popular ones.

 

Same thing happened to me as well. I booked something on the Volendam for next year. First they cut the cruise down to less days, and then they cancelled it altogether. HAL offered me $75 OBC for my "trouble" if I wanted to book something else which, considering the cruise was a good year out, I think was very reasonable, so I made a different booking.

 

Signature of Excellence enhancements might be nice, but there's a price for them. The ship has to be taken out of circulation for the length of the drydock necessary to accomplish them. Less ships means things have to be juggled around. There's no way to avoid it.

 

Did HAL offer you anything for your "inconvenience?"

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[jhannah]

So sorry you got "bitten" here. It seems lightning DOES strike in the same place more than once! However, it's inevitable. As Rita points out, lots is going on over the next 12-18 months, and rearrangements must be made.

[SAN]

The Oosterdam is going to drydock when? I'm asking because when I looked on line for the deck plans they printed until April 2, 2009 these are the deck plans.

what is changing?

[mezza]

Hmmm, valid explanation and good defence of HAL. Every organisation has to do things to survive in an economic downturn - it's just the way one does things, that counts. Incentives - what are they- compensation to keep the customer coming back for the product?? we were told you can have a lesser cabin on the Veendam - after all "it is a smaller ship as you can see from the photos and there are not enough verandahs to go around", and on the Rotterdam - "you can have the same cabin category, if it is available". Nothing for the change of date on the Oosterdam.

 

I figure we all have to adjust to different situations in life and be flexible. I don't expect monetary or cabin compensate coz it ends up being a win/lose situation but if it offered, the message is 'you are a valued customer' and that is a win/win situation because I will be likely to return. The 'Olympic' explanation suggests that we little fish that hand over a few thousand dollars for a cruise are just not as important - yep, the reality of life!

 

As a seasoned traveller, a few considerate words from a HAL representative would not have gone astray over these last few months but maybe they haven't taken Public Relations 101 :cool: