Cruise line's stance adds to mom's grief!!!

Cruise line's stance adds to mom's grief

Ticket Tussle

VIENNA TOWNSHIP
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION

Saturday, April 08, 2006
By Shena Abercrombie

VIENNA TWP. - The April cruise on the Holland America Line, to such
tropical places as Jamaica, was supposed to be a bonding experience
for Tedda "Sue" Alexander and her daughter, Trisha.

Instead, it has turned into a final farewell.

Trisha Alexander, 30, died of a heart attack on March 29, just 17 days
before the planned cruise.

Now the Vienna Township family says cruise line officials are refusing
to let Trisha's father, David Alexander, use her ticket to travel on
the ship to help carry out their daughter's wish to have her ashes
spread at sea. The ship sails April 15.

Cruise line officials said they have tried to help by waiving most of
the penalties and fees to let David buy a ticket at a reduced cost.

"Trisha was all excited about this cruise, marking off the days on the
calendar, and together we bought new dresses and shoes," said
Sue. "We'd planned the vacation for months - we weren't expecting
anything like that to happen."

But when Trisha died, Sue thought it only fitting that David go with
her on the cruise instead.

"She'd said to me previously, if anything ever happened, she wanted to
be cremated and have her ashes sprinkled over the ocean because she
loved to go on cruises so much," Sue said. "We decided that is what
we'd do."

But the cruise line, Holland America Line, wouldn't let David
Alexander use Trisha's ticket.

Rose Abello, a spokeswoman for Holland America Line, said the cruise
line offers trip insurance for just such instances.

"Trip insurance allows you to change or cancel for any reason up to 24
hours before the cruise," Abello said.

But the Alexanders didn't opt for the insurance after buying their
tickets at $1,100 a piece, which included air fare.

David was forced to buy a third ticket to go on the cruise.

Now the Alexanders are out an additional $352 - they said they found a
last-minute deal online - upset with Holland America Line for being
inflexible with its policies in emergencies.

"Our whole family is upset," she said. "I offered to fax them her
death certificate, but I was told there was nothing they could do."

The Alexander's said they have taken more than 10 trips on the cruise
line and have plenty of fond memories of them until now.

"The reason we continued with them is because we've always had great
service on the ship," she said. "Speaking for the future, I'm not
sure."

If you don't buy the insurance, you take
your chances. Seems like HAL made a
reasonable accommodation.
On a side issue: Do they really agree to
let you "spread ashes" from the ship
during a cruise? Could get really
"dusty" for some people downwind.
Cheers,
John in LALALand

Nomen Nescio wrote:
> Cruise line's stance adds to mom's grief
>
> Ticket Tussle
>
> VIENNA TOWNSHIP
> THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
>
> Saturday, April 08, 2006
> By Shena Abercrombie
>
> VIENNA TWP. - The April cruise on the Holland America Line, to such
> tropical places as Jamaica, was supposed to be a bonding experience
> for Tedda "Sue" Alexander and her daughter, Trisha.
>
> Instead, it has turned into a final farewell.
>
> Trisha Alexander, 30, died of a heart attack on March 29, just 17 days
> before the planned cruise.

SNIP

>
> "Trip insurance allows you to change or cancel for any reason up to 24
> hours before the cruise," Abello said.
>
> But the Alexanders didn't opt for the insurance after buying their
> tickets at $1,100 a piece, which included air fare.
>
> David was forced to buy a third ticket to go on the cruise.
>
> Now the Alexanders are out an additional $352 - they said they found a
> last-minute deal online - upset with Holland America Line for being
> inflexible with its policies in emergencies.
>
> "Our whole family is upset," she said. "I offered to fax them her
> death certificate, but I was told there was nothing they could do."
>
> The Alexander's said they have taken more than 10 trips on the cruise
> line and have plenty of fond memories of them until now.
>
> "The reason we continued with them is because we've always had great
> service on the ship," she said. "Speaking for the future, I'm not
> sure."
>

Hal could have made the change, they had 30 days notice. NCL allowed a
friend of mine to make a switch 7 days before sailing when his girl friend
could not go due to a family emergency.

>Could get really
> "dusty" for some people downwind.
> Cheers,
> John in LALALand
>
I think it would be ok if you did it from the back of the ship.

Dave Ferguson wrote:
>>Could get really
>>"dusty" for some people downwind.
>> Cheers,
>> John in LALALand
>>
>
> I think it would be ok if you did it from the back of the ship.
>
>
One, is the story true, and two, they can let her sail if they contacted
the right people.

Clay

"Crabman" <Crabman@dud.com> wrote in message
news:v6B_f.106828$no3.96251@tornado.southeast.rr.c om...
> Dave Ferguson wrote:
>>>Could get really
>>>"dusty" for some people downwind.
>>> Cheers,
>>> John in LALALand
>>>
>>
>> I think it would be ok if you did it from the back of the ship.
>>
>>
> One, is the story true, and two, they can let her sail if they contacted
> the right people.
>
> Clay

Clay, in spite of the fact that the OP is someone who posts through an
anonymous remailer, the story appears to be true.
--
DG in Cherry Hill, NJ

In article <uLKdnSZ5OqK8X6fZnZ2dnUVZ_t6dnZ2d@>, Marclaw@ says...
>
>
>Hal could have made the change, they had 30 days notice. NCL allowed a
>friend of mine to make a switch 7 days before sailing when his girl friend
>could not go due to a family emergency.
>
Why won't HAL let them make a change? It will only cost them a few
dollars to change the name on the manifest. It sounds to me like
they are playing the same game the airlines do. They are sticking
it to their customers in order to make money.

In article <Zbj%f.923274$xm3.539959@attbi_s21>, Odysseus <x@x.x> wrote:

> In article <uLKdnSZ5OqK8X6fZnZ2dnUVZ_t6dnZ2d@>, Marclaw@
> says...
> >
> >
> >Hal could have made the change, they had 30 days notice. NCL allowed a
> >friend of mine to make a switch 7 days before sailing when his girl friend
> >could not go due to a family emergency.
> >
> Why won't HAL let them make a change? It will only cost them a few
> dollars to change the name on the manifest. It sounds to me like
> they are playing the same game the airlines do. They are sticking
> it to their customers in order to make money.

Gee they are asking the customers to actually abide by the contracts
the customers voluntarily signed.. and not for the first time. The
bastards....

In article <kurtullman-AE19E0.08102613042006@news.west.>,
kurtullmanm says...
>
>
>In article <Zbj%f.923274$xm3.539959@attbi_s21>, Odysseus <x@x.x> wrote:
>
>> In article <uLKdnSZ5OqK8X6fZnZ2dnUVZ_t6dnZ2d@>, Marclaw@
>> says...
>> >
>> >
>> >Hal could have made the change, they had 30 days notice. NCL allowed a
>> >friend of mine to make a switch 7 days before sailing when his girl friend
>> >could not go due to a family emergency.
>> >
>> Why won't HAL let them make a change? It will only cost them a few
>> dollars to change the name on the manifest. It sounds to me like
>> they are playing the same game the airlines do. They are sticking
>> it to their customers in order to make money.
>
> Gee they are asking the customers to actually abide by the contracts
>the customers voluntarily signed.. and not for the first time. The
>bastards....

Why do the cruise lines have a contract with those terms. It's because
they want to stick it to the customers to make money. Some bean counter
has determined we will make $x when a customer dies or gets sick and
we get to keep the money.

In article <qur%f.893221$x96.253397@attbi_s72>, Odysseus <x@x.x> wrote:

> In article <kurtullman-AE19E0.08102613042006@news.west.>,
> kurtullmanm says...
> >
> Why do the cruise lines have a contract with those terms. It's because
> they want to stick it to the customers to make money. Some bean counter
> has determined we will make $x when a customer dies or gets sick and
> we get to keep the money.

Theyhave a contract with those terms because they want to make money
by making sure that people who say they are going to show up actually
do. I repeat, the Bastards.
I mean every apartment contract has a clause that says you can
leave any time you want to no matter how long you signed up for. YOu can
take a car back to the dealer the second it no longer interests. Every
other contract can be broken at the whim of the signee.
I