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Advice needed: Holland America cruise compensation for noisy cabin

Advice needed: Holland America cruise compensation for noisy cabin

Old Sep 7, 2018, 5:09 am
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by Randyk47
“Nonsense” seems a little strong.
I don't. At best, it makes no sense to criticize something out of the context of the alternatives. At worst, it is deceptive and manipulative - saying so would be "a little strong".

Originally Posted by Randyk47
To me it’s more of a case of dealing with the bureaucracy of a large corporation and indeed you might get a better response from a smaller luxury line.
The luxury line I mentioned, Seabourn, is owned by that same large corporation. You'll get a better response from Seabourn because you paid for a higher grade of service from Seabourn than from Holland America.

Originally Posted by Randyk47
Of course you go over to Cruise Critic and I can pretty much guarantee you will see complaints about poor or non responses from even those lines.
Which brings us back to my comment about "nonsense".
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Old Sep 7, 2018, 5:49 am
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by bicker
I don't. At best, it makes no sense to criticize something out of the context of the alternatives. At worst, it is deceptive and manipulative - saying so would be "a little strong".

The luxury line I mentioned, Seabourn, is owned by that same large corporation. You'll get a better response from Seabourn because you paid for a higher grade of service from Seabourn than from Holland America.

Which brings us back to my comment about "nonsense".
Speaking of nonsense...........
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Old Sep 7, 2018, 7:00 am
  #18  
 
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Originally Posted by Randyk47
You'll get a better response from Seabourn because you paid for a higher grade of service from Seabourn than from Holland America.
Speaking of nonsense...........
When you start objecting to the idea that people paying more get more it is a clear sign that there's not much point discussing it with you further. Value for money paid is a very basic, and typically a non-controversial, concept.
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Old Sep 7, 2018, 7:43 am
  #19  
 
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Originally Posted by bicker
When you start objecting to the idea that people paying more get more it is a clear sign that there's not much point discussing it with you further. Value for money paid is a very basic, and typically a non-controversial, concept.
Thats a straw man on your part, I said nothing of the sort. Indeed we cruise Silversea and it is more expensive than the mass market lines. We do it to get better food, better service, smaller less crowded ships, special itineraries and destinations, etc., so I clearly and easily understand the notion you pay more to get more. On the whole weve had great cruises with them with a few minor issues. I can honestly say theyve been very responsive on board when we have had issues, its one of the aspects that keeps us coming back. At the same time I really dont think that a post-cruise complaint is going to automatically and necessarily going to get more attention than any other cruise line. Maybe they will maybe they wont.
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Old Sep 7, 2018, 11:17 am
  #20  
 
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Originally Posted by Randyk47
Indeed we cruise Silversea and it is more expensive than the mass market lines. We do it to get better food, better service, smaller less crowded ships, special itineraries and destinations, etc., so I clearly and easily understand the notion you pay more to get more. On the whole weve had great cruises with them with a few minor issues. I can honestly say theyve been very responsive on board when we have had issues, its one of the aspects that keeps us coming back. At the same time I really dont think that a post-cruise complaint is going to automatically and necessarily going to get more attention than any other cruise line. Maybe they will maybe they wont.
And that's what I referred to as nonsense. While anything is possible in specific cases, we can say with great assurance that luxury lines address such concerns more effectively and more consistently successfully as compared to midgrade lines.

You aren't a sucker. You are paying more and getting more, on practically every account except safety (which probably doesn't vary from grade to grade).
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Old Sep 7, 2018, 12:25 pm
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by bicker
You are paying more and getting more, on practically every account except safety (which probably doesn't vary from grade to grade).
A bit OT, but I wonder whether the most skilled Captains and their staff tend to be assigned to the largest vessels. If I owned CCL, I'd put my best on ships holding 3,000 vs 300.
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Old Sep 7, 2018, 1:27 pm
  #22  
 
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Originally Posted by 747FC
A bit OT, but I wonder whether the most skilled Captains and their staff tend to be assigned to the largest vessels. If I owned CCL, I'd put my best on ships holding 3,000 vs 300.
I'm not sure but safety is one of those things that we don't generally see tracking with cost, so it surely makes sense that greatest quality ("most skilled") will track with greatest risk (largest ships).
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Old Sep 7, 2018, 8:45 pm
  #23  
 
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Originally Posted by 747FC
A bit OT, but I wonder whether the most skilled Captains and their staff tend to be assigned to the largest vessels. If I owned CCL, I'd put my best on ships holding 3,000 vs 300.
Originally Posted by bicker
I'm not sure but safety is one of those things that we don't generally see tracking with cost, so it surely makes sense that greatest quality ("most skilled") will track with greatest risk (largest ships).
Oh what a stupid I am, I do own CCL, but only enough shares to get the shareholder discount.
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Old Sep 8, 2018, 4:38 am
  #24  
 
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Me too, but they didn't ask us where to post their various captains.
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Old Sep 10, 2018, 11:30 am
  #25  
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has anyone found that offering to pay for a higher cabin helps with resolution and recovery ?
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Old Sep 10, 2018, 12:01 pm
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by Kagehitokiri
has anyone found that offering to pay for a higher cabin helps with resolution and recovery ?
An interesting notion though not sure many would be all that excited about having a bad cruise then booking the same line again in a higher and more expensive cabin category. Also Im thinking of exactly what cabin category a person was in in the first place. Take us for instance. We typically book pretty nice veranda suites but not the top tier suites like penthouse or owners suites. The price difference on say Silversea is in the realm of double the cost. Even if we tried to negotiate a reduction I doubt seriously theyd bring one of their expensive suites down that far.
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Old Sep 12, 2018, 9:35 am
  #27  
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i was actually talking about making it clear that one wants a different / better cabin and is willing to pay

in order to make it clear one is not just trying to get recovery

op was talking about holland america, for example per couple >
4418 inside 4610 spa inside 5098 ocean
5366 spa ocean 5376 family ocean 5378 obstructed verandah
5578 verandah 6168 aft verandah 6366 spa verandah
7198 vista suite 7746 aft vista suite
9000 signature 11000 neptune ____ pinnacle 12914 neptune spa
(above is not restricted discount) for 12 night koningsdam med jul 29

silversea et al are not always that expensive of jump, especially regent

some silversea med per couple >

spirit
10080 classic veranda 10440 superior veranda 10800 deluxe veranda
15300 silver

shadow athens jul 30 2019
15300 veranda
_____ medallion
21960 silver

Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Sep 12, 2018 at 10:01 am
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Old Sep 13, 2018, 5:20 pm
  #28  
 
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I have not travelled HAL but having cruised with Princess and NCL some 13 times between the 2, the service levels onboard with regards to complaints have seemed to dropped. And sometimes to take the complaint post-cruise can be a challenge to get it resolved to your satisfaction. These cruise-liners are now more focused on bringing in larger than life ships every year and targeting the mass market. In your case perhaps taking the $100 that was offered on board would have been a start and then following up with the head office for additional compensation may have yielded a different result ?
We had an incident onboard NCL, they tried to rectify the situation, we accepted everything that they offered onboard but then still wrote to head office post cruise about the experience and how it was dealt with, I did not ask for any compensation but they came back with a $400 onboard credit.
Sometimes, it also depends on who you are dealing with at the headoffice, if it someone who is going by the book vs reality it can result in a different outcome.
Good luck
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Old Jan 16, 2019, 4:58 pm
  #29  
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Just a comment from one who has traveled a number of lines, including HAL and Regent 7 Seas. When we had problems on HAL, fixing it on board often did not occur. The issues on R7S were addressed promptly. This has more to do with the ratio of staff to cabins, tha attitude? We have had issues that were not adequately addressed on both because in was not possible (HAL), at sea. Both have disappointed (value differences) when asking for compensation at corporate. The loss of the use of a veranda for 1/2 of a 24 day cruise on HAL was valued as $20 on ship (2 lunches). We though it should be more the upgrade cost of a portion of the $2800 we paid. We are still "negotiating" with HAL. They think an upgrade, in the same category, makes up for a full category paid for into a cabin with known (by them) problems. Guess it was not an issue for them, as they got revenue for a defective cabin on a ship scheduled for retirement. Hope this is not a big issue for those that follow us, until the retirement takes place. Beats making major changes?
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Old Jan 16, 2019, 7:23 pm
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by bicker
All the major mass market cruise lines are comparable to each other - none significantly better or worse than any other. They will vary with regard to individual aspects, but in the overall they'll have roughly the same amount of positives and negatives as each other. I typically recommend that people not do as the OP says he plans to - do not switch providers because of a bad experience that is, in reality, the same experience that you are as likely as not to have had on some other cruise line. Rather, learn from the experience - learn what is reasonable to expect, yes, but more importantly learn the ropes of customer service of that one cruise line. Even though you do not get satisfaction for your initial grievance, you've now got names and numbers and a story to tell the next time something doesn't go as you wish. You also have points toward elite status that might make a difference the next time.
Unless you have issues with letting things go and it brings a sour taste to your mouth to give them more of your business. That's a lot of free bitters without an alcohol package There are other mass markets which don't have that mental association for the op and lessons learned about ship and cabin choice research which can be applied to other mass markets, too.

I find NCL's change management to need a lot of improvement based on a sailing after dry dock where they delayed the boarding date but weren't able to refund passengers consistently with the promised refund before I got off 6 days later or even a month after arriving home. I was in a balcony. A high loyalty status Haven passenger was also given the run-around. NCL post-cruise/pre-cruise might have been overwhelmed or they might have intentionally requested a lot of follow up purposely hoping customers won't follow through for a partial refund & hotel reimbursement (as they proposed and promised). I haven't said never again but would only try again with a simpler oft-repeated itineraries in better weather or with a lot more patience, time, and persistence to follow up.

At least they didn't send you a plate of chocolate covered strawberries and hope that would take care of it? Yes, some mass markets would leave it at that.
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