Holland America Line review: Ambassadors of joy need help

My husband and I are booked on the Noordam 10/1/2023 – 10/8/2023 on what is marketed at a 7-day Wine Country & Pacific Northwest cruise. Even today, this cruise is listed on your website as a ‘Wine Country’ cruise (see screen shot below). The advertised Santa Barbara and Monterey stops (clearly wine country) have been removed and replaced with LA and Avalon (clearly NOT wine country) yet, no other wine-related excursions or even explanations.

The one (and only) wine-related excursion was sold out, I ended up on a waiting list, then was told (via email) that we lost our opportunity to purchase the excursion because I didn’t respond within 48 hours. I did not get an email saying we had 48 hours to purchase, yet I got the email saying we lost our opportunity!

I called to voice the frustration and was told that someone from the escalation department would call me back. To date, I’ve never received a call. When I asked how much the penalty would be to cancel the trip, I was told I would forfeit the entire amount paid for the cruise.

I called again a few days later and was told I was back on a waiting list. Today I am notified that I have 72-hours to purchase the Sonoma Country & Wine excursion, or the space will be released to the next person. The email instructions say, “To confirm your space and complete the purchase, please log into “My Account, Shore Excursions – waitlisted shore excursion now available” to purchase"; however, I have logged into the app and into the website and cannot find this option. So, I now sit on hold – AGAIN trying to get help.

A few weeks ago, we received a notice to upgrade our signature suite to a Neptune suite. Figuring that we won’t have excursions in Monterey or Santa Barbara, we thought the upgrade would be nice and we can make the best of relaxing in a more comfortable room (one with a coffee pot). I called to try and pay for the upgrade but wanted to get confirmation that we were on the wait list for the Sonoma excursion yet no one at Holland had any idea what I was talking about. The call, being put on hold multiple times, and being transferred ended up not only being annoying, but a complete waste of time. I called again to finally be able to pay for the upgrade to a Neptune suite (this lady was efficient, lovely, and accommodating). However, a week later I got a voicemail saying that she had booked us in error, there are, in fact, no suites available for upgrade and we will be downgraded to the original signature suite. The voicemail also indicated that our payment would be refunded as soon as possible. Note, this has been nearly 2 weeks and no refund! Additionally, Burchardt Gardens excursions are all sold out, and I can’t even book our time preference for the dining room.

Your website indicates that your credo is to be ‘ambassadors of joy’. This process has been less than joyful, in fact, it will likely be our last cruise with Holland after having similar (not as bad) experiences in the past. I did feel as if senior leaders of the company should at least have a recent customer experience and know that there are some processes that could use attention and improvement:

Advance booking of mealtimes

Advance booking of excursions

Returning calls when promised

Website advertising needs updated marketing

Taking payment for upgrades that are not available

Processing refunds

Service recovery

I appreciate your time and hope some efforts are devoted to improving your position of ambassadors of joy.

Sincerely,

Amy Beaubien

Mariner ID [protected]

CC.

Gus Antorcha