AKJonesy

HAL transfer is the easiest and if you are already booked you will find that information on HAL under Already Booked then you can navigate to HAL transfers.

Know when the hurricane and typhoon seasons are and avoid those. There are two big currents off the California coast; one from the north and one from the south which can make for more rough water. That is why I will not do a circle Hawaii cruise from California. It is the wind that makes the waves and out there in the Pacific there is nothing to stop the waves IF it's windy. Cruises to Alaska are better from Vancouver than from Seattle generally because the cruise ships get behind the islands vs those that go out along the Pacific. Book rooms lower and toward the middle of the ship where there is less movement. I would not use any medication because it made me feel worse and doped up. River cruises.

I'm not making assumptions about his age, his immune system or if the vaccines work or don't work for him. I'm not making any assumptions at all and am not making light of it.

POTUS got it and apparantly he had 2 shots 2 boosters. Plus, you KNOW that everyone around him is tested. Goes to show. I'm not making assessments on his condition, but just pointing out the facts.

We can't get enough help up here. It does not surprise me the tour canceled. This year I would not have booked any cruise + tour package in Alaska. Who knows what will happen next year. Maybe the same.

First of all, I hope you both are feeling better and are out of quarantine. Second: you mentioned you did not change cabins. Are/were you in a balcony cabin?

I posted this comment on another HAL board. If POTUS can get covid after being vaxxed 2x and boosted 2x, and he is probably the most protected person in the entire country, then I think we can all expect to get it. I am sure that everyone around POTUS is tested continuously. Not trying to be funny at all, but just saying...

I mean if the POTUS can get covid twice and he was vaxxed 2X and boosted 2X and he is one of the most protected, if not THE most protected person in the country, it kind of puts things in perspective. Just sayin'. Not trying to be smart here, but I'm sure EVERYONE is required to be tested around him, and still.

I ALWAYS select my own room and pull out the HAL deck plans so that I am not near any noisy area. Been there did that once and never again. Also, in response to the "why would people book in a noisy area", I think it is often because it didn't even come to mind. When it happened to us, we were inexperienced and didn't even think about the stateroom locations. On a recent cruise, we were moved because that particular part of the ship was the covid ward and they moved us right under the BB Kings, but I went right to the desk and said no way and we were moved away from the noise area.

After cruising resumed, we decided that we could still get covid, or Noro, or the flu, etc. We have cruised 3 times since start up and I bring a lot of "wellness" products with me now. We don't know what's really available on board from medical so I pack all of my supplements and actually up dosed on supplements; especially Vit D and Vit C prior to cruising. I've also packed a nebulizer, pain meds, extra strength tylenol, Cold Eze, and a few more things with the idea that if we "catch" anything, our medical supplies might come in handy. I also have a compact heating pad I throw in my suitcase as well. If anyone is cruising now, there is risk out there and people should really evaluate their risk for their condition, age, etc. My husband and I certainly do and age does become more of a factor going forward. I am sorry for the situation here and hope the recovery comes quickly. Best wishes.

It's not the 7 day trips which is far more unlikely to end up in Q; it's the longer trips that I am concerned about.

If memory serves me, Volunteer Point on the Falklands booked up very early.

Hard for me to know because I only sail on HAL. But, I do love the promenade deck on MOST of the ships. I have met so many people on the promenade deck while I have been walking around. On one cruise, I met this funny couple who were counting the number of laps I did. We became instant friends after. I think we were on Rotterdam this spring and the promenade deck INCLUDES the lifeboats which I didn't like because no more deck chairs and parts of the promenade is very narrow. I have also been completely alone on the promenade at times and it was as if the whole ship was mine.

Holland America primarily for me because there are fewer kids and the average age is a bit older. It's nice to mingle with people of same generation.

It will be difficult for the cruise industry to figure out how to make money while pleasing cruise passengers when it comes to covid and mandates. Half the US is at complete odds with each other on mandates and from what I read on this forum re-opening (after covid) the disagreements got pretty heated. IMHO it didn't help the cruise industry when covid broke to have all of the negative publicity and that is still talked about on different forums. I don't know if they can overcome it. Plus, it doesn't help when the whole covid thing is wrapped up in politics as well. We will continue to cruise and are willing to "put up" with some stuff. But, even 4 star I'm not willing to put up with any hassles that involve ALOT of hoops anymore. I can go on vacation many places without being stressed if I'm going to end up in covid jail on the ship.

I for one will ONLY get my cruise news and requirements from Tony on the La Lida Loca channel on YT. OK... just breaking things up here with a little humor.🤣 But still, I do like Tony.

It makes you wonder. Most of my family and friends had regular boosters and still got covid. We got covid. Right now, friends that are firefighters who are required to be vaccinated have a pretty good case of covid and we just helped them out giving them all of our stuff (treatments).

Speaking of covid quarantine, there was a passenger last year doing the California, Mexico, Hawaii cruise who got quarantined quite early in the trip and blogged here on CC about the experience. After I read that, I started thinking about what I would want in my room if I were quarantined. On each of our trips, I packed some things to keep myself more occupied if it happened to me; which it did not. At least on 2 of the ships we were on, quarantine was in balcony rooms that I knew of so that people could go outside which would make it more tolerable. I guess people could decide if they were going to quarantine together or not. That is, the infected and non infected could be together. We decided in advance we would not do that. My understanding is that you have to decide and pack very quickly once you get the results. So, we made sure we had separate chargers, etc. Again, something to think about.

Not on NA but on a different ship, we were on Deck 4 and we were moved to Main Deck because HAL was using part of Deck 4 for quarantine. We only found that out when we arrived. Then, they wanted to put us right below the music walk and I said no, so we were moved to a different room on Main Deck right near the Customer Service area which was fine. I didn't like the fact that on that Main Deck the ceilings are lower so you get a bit of that closed in feeling. But, the fact that we are only in the room to sleep and change made it fine. We are 4 star so I was kind of surprised they did not try and accommodate us a little better. I didn't want to ruin the vacation starting out, so we just sucked it up once we got a quieter place on Main Deck.

When we were on NA it was on Deck 6. You cannot go down the quarantine hallway because the entire area is closed off. Closed off as in the double doors are closed and it is posted that you are not allowed through the doors.

The best place to be is outside. Going through the locks is slow so you will have plenty of time to move around the entire ship. I found the best place ABOVE the aft pool on each side, and aft either at the pool or on the Promenade. There will be plenty of chairs out on the Promenade and Pool deck although most people are meandering around getting their photos. People are going to congregate up in the Crows Nest, but I never found those windows clear enough for pictures and it is pretty packed up there. I guess for people that want to drink coffee and have a comfortable sit, it is a good place, but not the best for viewing the locks. The very front of ship will probably be open but it wasn't my favorite area trying to see over the side of the ship. It's all fun and interesting wherever you go, but not really required to get up early and secure a spot, unless you want to be in the Crows Nest.

I've mostly done private excursions, BUT when there has been a tight itinerary I've opted for the ship excursion. If we have a long port day, I've usually booked my private excursions early in the day allowing at least several hours of buffer between the end of the excursion and departure time. That has allowed me to not experience any stress over a private excursion. Also, if the excursion goes quite a ways from the port, I might opt toward the ship excursion. I do maintain that private excursions with great reputations cannot afford getting people back late to the ship. I don't think they would be in business considering all of the reputation websites. My only late departure back to the ship was a ship excursion swimming with the rays. Our boat broke down and we had to wait for someone from town to bring out a part to fix the problem. We were 45 min late, but obviously the ship waited for us.

Beating a dead horse

Hands down best trip was to Antarctica from Buenos Aires. Bucket list trip. I can't even put it into words.

Port Everglades because it's easy.