Holland America’s port change rocks the boat
QA: My family has a home in northern Manitoba that I go to every summer. It always feels like I work the entire year just to get to “The Lake.” Cellphones don’t work, there’s no TV and wonderfully bad internet. Nothing to do but swim every day, read and watch the evening thunderclouds roll over the water. Bliss. Over the years, I have compiled a checklist of summer activities for myself and guests. It’s over 100 items and growing. It includes cliff jumping, outdoor movies, night swimming and spotting Northern Lights and falling stars. most of your trip. Don’t get lazy and don’t slip into your home routines. Mix it up and learn something new about yourself.
A: Last year, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and my biggest takeaway was a lesson about myself and my endurance. It was a sevenday climb, and my body told me I was done after day one. I now recognize that I have reserves I didn’t know I had before and my mind is stronger than my legs. That first night after the two-day climb down off of Kilimanjaro, I had a hot shower and almost cried (because) it felt so good. I slept in a real bed with the window open, and the breeze made the mosquito netting dance. I could feel my body begin to heal and I fell asleep to the sound of exotic birds.
My wife and I are booked on a confirmed, prepaid Holland America Antarctic cruise from Chile to Buenos Aires in December, which was advertised as leaving from Valparaiso. Recently we received a letter from Holland America announcing that for “operational reasons,” the port of embarkation was being changed to San Antonio, Chile, some 90 miles away.
Wanting to visit Chile for a few days before embarking, we made nonreimbursable hotel reservations in both Santiago, where our flight from the U.S. arrives three days before sailing day, and Valparaiso. Both we and our travel agent have contacted Holland America, pointing out that its plan to transport passengers directly from the Santiago airport to the new departure point on sailing day will not work for us, since our airline reservations cannot be changed, and will result in our losing the funds we have paid for our hotels, not to mention our lost few days in Chile.
Holland America’s response has been, “Sorry, if you read the fine print, you’d see we’re within our rights to make itinerary changes. You’re stuck.” I could understand if weather conditions or such made a change necessary after we’re on board, but “operational reasons” doesn’t have much validity.
We would be satisfied if Holland America were to offer to make arrangements for, or at least offer to pay for, transportation from Valparaiso to the new, distant departure port, versus just say, “Tough luck,” and wash its hands of the matter. Cruise lines should be responsible for their arbitrary decisions, or acknowledge that they’ve advertised falsely.