KidCruze

3 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

So, yeah, I would've happily worn a mask in public spaces, just as I did when I resumed sailing in November.  And December.  And late January.

 

So thanks to the inconsiderate and selfish pax with even mild symptoms who didn't bother to mask up. 

 

Am I following you correctly?

You believe masks prevent covid, you made a conscious decision to not wear a mask when you were capable of wearing one, and you are upset with someone else for not wearing a mask because you caught covid. Am I missing something?

I've been willing to cruise during the entire covid pandemic, but I'm just not going to with burdensome protocols in place. I don't mind vaccine requirements and pre-cruise testing. I view those as legitimate requirements that do not hinder the onboard experience. I do not want to cruise with a mask on. That causes me stress and reduces my fun. I go on vacation to relax and have fun. I am finally about to cruise in Alaska, after a 2.5 year wait, and then this past Sunday, HAL changed their mask rules back to "required indoors" for Alaskan cruises. That's a bummer. If it was just my wife and I, I would take a refund, but we are traveling with a her family, so its a little more complicated. I was prepared to spend a lot of money on board (relative, a lot of money to us, probably not to others🤣). We haven't cruised in a long time and I'm ready cut loose. We had planned to book a lot of spa appointments. 

I think there are a lot of people like me, not overly concerned with catching covid, they would rather just do something else with less hassle. Maybe I'll be grumpy on the ship Sunday, or maybe I'll be on a beach in Florida. If I'm on the ship with a mask, I'm certainly not spending money in the spa. 

I hope the cruise lines right the ship economically, because we love cruising, and I hope they are around for a long time. The ship I am booked on was only at 60% capacity before making the mask change and before people test prior to embarking, so that number will likely go down. I think cruise lines are going to have to remove all covid restrictions in order to get people back and start making money. They may have waited too long already. With the economy tightening up, and people not already having a cruise booked, I expect the money they would've normally allocated to a cruise will get spent on other stuff rather than new cruise bookings. 

Princess updated their mask policy to “masks are required between Whittier and Vancouver.” Not sure if that means cruises that originated in SF or not. Are they enforcing that rule on your cruise now? I see you mentioned they were not at the beginning of your cruise, just wondering if that changed when the guidelines changed.

Looks like y’all are having a blast! Thanks for the posts. 

8 hours ago, ewildcat7 said:

Can you provide the link to where you saw that it ONLY applies to the southbound cruises?  We are going from Vancouver to Whittier in July and got an email that masks are required.  This is so confusing!

Well…my email from Sunday and the website yesterday, said cruises leaving from Whittier require masks, but now the website says “to/from Whittier or Vancouver”, so I guess they changed it.
https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/travel-well/frequently-asked-questions/faq-for-cruises-from-usa.html

it says updated June 15, 2022 

I spent a lot of time trying to get through to HAL yesterday. I am supposed to sail from Whittier on Sunday. They offered a refund of my cruise fare, but had not figured out if they could refund my airfare I booked through them. 

Kamfish, according to the website it only applies to cruises from Whittier, AK to Vancouver, Canada.

Celebrity Mercury around the '97-'99 time frame. 7 days. Vancouver to Alaska. I loved the cruise but don't waste an Alaska trip on a 10-12 year old. I didn't appreciate it then, but I had a great time in the arcade. 

I'll cruise as soon as my schedule allows. I was supposed to be on one in Alaska later this month. I am booked on one for January 2021 in the Caribbean, and rebooked Alaska for June 2021. I don't think my schedule will allow for any cruises prior to January, but if it does, I'll try to be on one.

13 hours ago, Oakman58 said:

I am so glad they cancelled our May23rd cruise.  This way I will get a 100% refund.  The 125% future cruise credit plus $250 onboard credit was very tempting but if Holland declares bankruptcy I don't know if they would honor those credits.  I'm a bird in the hand kind of guy.

I'm thankful HAL finally made it official, but the 125% FCC will not be a savings. I looked at my same week next year, and it is more than 25% price increase. This is over the original price I booked at, not the  very low fares posted recently.

ETA: didn't realize next year's fare includes the "Have it ALL promotion". That's part of the large price increase.

If you are on facebook, please ask HAL on their page what their plans are for Alaska in May and June. You could also ask why they removed the travel advisory about Canada closing from their website. I am not on Facebook, but have heard corporations react to comment on their social media quickly.

1 hour ago, Ellen495 said:

WOW! And my TA just emailed basically saying they're closed unless we want to book new trips!

As in HAL is not speaking with people wanting to change their currently booked plans?

11 minutes ago, Ellen495 said:

My TA said it could be 90 days. Is that possible?

When I spoke with HAL, they told me it could be 6 months before I got money back, if I chose to cancel and have my deposit refunded. 

1 hour ago, Talent312 said:

HAL apparently removed the Canada section of its travel advisory.

It now ignores the port closure.... Now, that is dishonest.

Maybe they wanted to cut down on calls about it.

Wow, that's shady. I'm new to HAL, this was going to be our first with them. Not sure I could be more disappointed in how they are handling this. 

I would just like a response from HAL. I think not canceling these June cruises is dishonest because they know they will not happen. I understand they don't want to lose my deposit right now, but I will have a hard time trusting them with money for future cruises. I don't even want my deposit back, I just want to reschedule a future cruise, but if I don't have clear options on April 18 (when final payment is due), I'll probably just let them keep the $99/pp and I'll do something else. 

I'm in the same boat as you 😁, but sailing later in June. I previously put down a deposit of $350/pp when booking. If I cancel before 4/18, I can get all but $99 back (the current deposit amount), but they said it will take 6 months to get the refund. I tried to  move my current booking to one later in the summer, but was told I would forfeit the perks I currently have because HAL has not officially acknowledged that my cruise is impacted, even though it clearly won't happen due to the Canadian ports being closed. Celebrity has already canceled all Alaska cruises through July 1. What is HAL's hold up? I know they won't to hold onto all of the money they can, but not giving a clear picture of future plans makes me want to just ask for all of my money back, except $99, instead of a FCC. They would definitely make more than $99 of me on a future cruise, and they could hold my money longer. I am really confused by their current stance.

I'm guessing FCC will be tied to each person individually. 

Does anyone else have an Alaska cruise booked this summer? With Canada closing their borders to cruise ships until July 1, there isn't much HAL can do about cruises scheduled before then. Celebrity has already canceled their cruises, but HAL is taking a wait and see approach, at least publicly. I just got off the phone with them. I was trying to move my booking to a week in July. They are advising me to not change the booking at this time. I asked where are they going to sail to if they can't stop in Canada. They are not sure at the moment.

Thanks. I did not realize that and was debating what to do prior to final payment next week. Looks like I can wait another month. I think the other members in our travel party are becoming more hesitant everyday.

7 hours ago, mrmoviezombie said:

For June sailings they have delayed final payment to 60 days before the cruise. That was only updated in the computers in the last few days.

Where is this info?

It seems like every organization is playing follow the leader right now. No one wants to be accused of not taking every precaution. I’m guessing every line will implement a similar policy. 

ETA: this will be very difficult for people who are doing land based travel prior to the cruise, which is very common in some areas, such as Alaska. 

Hello,

Our party of four will be sailing on the Westerdam June 21, 2020. 7 days in Alaska, Seward to Vancouver. This will be all of our first time on HAL. My wife and I are experienced cruisers on Celebrity, Royal, and Disney. My in-laws have been on one prior cruise, Norwegian, years ago. I am very excited to try out HAL. 

I've never been on HA, but I'm booked on the Westerdam in Alaska this summer. Are these tiles you can buy in the gift shop on board? Do they change each year?

We have fun decorating our door. Y'all are missing out. I'm probably my bothered by your sense of style on Forma... I mean Chic night than you are by my door decorations, so we're even 😂🤣

What's so miserable about that? 😂😂

lbfluffy, how was your stay?

Jerseymermaid, how was your stay?