westcoastcruiser

My husband and I sat for a Black and White photo session while cruising in March.  We selected our photos and were told we would receive them in 2-3 months.  Our onboard account was charged and, of course, the package paid for.

It is now 4 months and we have not received our photos nor heard anything.  I emailed Guest Relations and have not received a response.  I also called HAL and waited on hold for almost an hour before leaving a message to call me back but have heard nothing.  This was an expensive package and we, obviously, want our photos.  I know I could dispute with our credit card company but would like to resolve it without having to do that.

I realize that nothing is running smoothly anymore and understand delays are now normal.  However, I would just appreciate an update and estimated completion date.

Any thoughts?  Thank you.

And I really wonder if any of those advertisements resulted in a sale or a service being purchased.  For myself and my husband, I can honestly say, it has not.  Not even the flyers showing certain cruise itineraries has triggered us to book a cruise we were not previously interested in.

1 minute ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

It appears that the cruise deposit is refundable, however, so why would he insure the $600 deposit?

He would not be insuring  the deposit.  He would be purchasing a policy with no preexisting condition exclusion and oftentimes has a CFAR inclusion.  The premium would not be high since it is only for $600 coverage.  At time of final payment, he would up the coverage to cover the cost of the cruise, flights, etc & pay the increase in premium and still have CFAR and coverage for any preexisting conditions.  

sometimes this insurance is transferable should he cancel the cruise and book another or transfer the cruise to a different date.  

10 hours ago, PSR said:

 

It's too late for us to do this....already cancelled. But what is the procedure to transfer a booking? Did you just call HAL or your TA and ask to switch your whole booking to another date; were there any fees involved ? I've never heard of this. 

it was amazingly simple.  Called our big box TA who contacted HAL.  Everything transferred and even got extra perks being offered now, picked our cabin.  No additional fees.  

We were faced with a similar situation; in fact final payment  coming due next month.  We, too, have air fare paid for and tours booked.  After discussion, we decided to transfer our booking to next year.
 

 Just got off  a cruise last month without an issue .  When we left home for that cruise, all was fine.  But things changed dramatically during our 18 day cruise.  very fortunate we escaped without illness personally or on our ship.  
 

We, too, are near your age and do not want to risk traveling so soon.  Too many unknowns.  We also did not want to tie up thousands of dollars and potentially have to wait months for a refund.  Transferring the cruise to next year made the most sense for us.  Of course, it is an individual decision.

1 hour ago, cruiserchuck said:

 

Plus, there is still a shortage of tests and labs (unless you are a politician or pro athlete.)

Or a convicted criminal (Weinstein)

53 minutes ago, sansterre said:

My cough got worse today, I went to get tested for COVID-19.  Since I have heart disease, had been on a cruise, and had flown from one of the states they listed, I was accepted for testing.  Getting that nasal sample didn't take long, but I found it to be very uncomfortable.

Then they told me it would be at least 10 days before I would get the results!  I thought I had heard wrong - wasn't it a 3 day waiting period?  "No, this afternoon the waiting period had just gone up today from 5 days to 10 days", she said.

One good thing was that IF I did contract DOVID-19 on the Wednesday flights, it should show up in the sample taken today.  I guess there really isn't any easy way of knowing where I picked up the virus, but I do want to believe that we were all Coronavirus-free when we left the Eurodam.

I really don't mind staying home for 2 weeks.  I'm self-quarantining for 14 days and with this cold (or whatever it is)  not up for doing much of anything.  Uploading photos and unpacking will keep me busy for a few days.

I hope everyone got home safely, or are one their way.  Stay safe, and stay healthy!

 

yes, please post your results as Barb suggested.  Because of the confined space of the ship, despite HAL’s relentless cleaning, it is possible than one or more of us could be affected.

Let’s hope you feel better and your test result is negative.  And, yes, that does seem like an extraordinary long time to wait for results.

Claire

I, too, was on board and have the letter.  The websites are:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/pge/covid-19-cruise-ship

and

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Am also on this cruise.  Enjoying it very much.  My observations and thoughts...

listened to the string quartet last evening..a favorite  of ours and they did not disappoint.

the Dutch Tenors were outstanding!  Extremely talented and entertaining. Doing a second, different show Saturday evening which we will attend.

one gala night so far.  Saw some tuxes and exquisite evening wear as well as some less fancy, but nice evening attire.

last night, a smart casual evening, saw one gentleman turned away from the MDR in the evening as he was wearing shorts.  Happy to see rules consistently enforced.

in the Captain’s noon overhead announcement he mentioned  guests should adhere to handwashing recommendations but I only see the gel dispensers at MDR and Lido entrance and compliance, IMO, is inconsistent.  No sinks like I saw on Nieuw Statendam last summer.
 

lots of guests utilizing  the promenade deck for walking as the weather is perfect.

thallasotherapy pool is relaxing and enjoyable.  Perfect for this cruise with the string of sea days.  It is not crowded so I am thinking they did not sell out of the passes.

service is excellent, staff friendly and overall at the standard we know and love about HAL.

We did HAL Nieuw Statendam last July.  Was fabulous.  Cruised RT Amsterdam where we sailed north to Nor Cap including Bergen, Alesund, Eidjford (an absolutely stunning port) Flam, among other stops..  Over 6 months later and we still talk about it and we consider ourselves  well traveled.  

3 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

The current pricing for the Random includes the SBP, gratuities, up to $800 air credit and OBC which is why the pricing is so much higher.  If you're not interested in those perks, then you can try to price the fare without the perks.  It should be significantly lower.

looked at booking via cruise website and big box store.  Big box store significantly lower cost because of not including all the bells and whistles.  This was for husband and I so not sure about single occupancy cabins.

Another vote for Blue Horizon as a nice centrally located hotel.  Next visit though we are splurging on Pan Pacific.  

My mistake.  Might it be possible those cruises have not been released yet?

14 minutes ago, kcbmarek said:

I called Holland and the gal I talked to said they are not doing the Arctic this year.  Hard to believe as that is one of their most popular routes.  Hmmnm .....

That is confusing ....a quick search of their website shows Voyage of the Midnight Sun on Nieuw Statendam in July 2020.  It goes north of the arctic circle and I am sure there are other dates as well.  🤔

We did Holland for 21 days last July cruising north of the Arctic Circle and we consider it to be our most favorite cruise to date...and we consider ourselves well traveled.  Eidjford was probably the most beautiful place we have seen.  Bergen and Flam were nice, too.  It helped that we had no rain and were on a very new ship Nieuw Statendam.  Norway is not to be missed.  

We drive in the day before and stay overnight at Best Western Yacht Harbor.  They have reasonable parking and a free shuttle to and  from the port.  It is only a few miles from the port and right across from the harbor where there are restaurants, etc.

have stayed there several times and it is our first choice.

7 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

We just did this cruise in Sept. and it was by far the best of the 5 Alaska cruises we have taken.

 

Must do - whale watching in Ice Point Straight.  BY FAR the best whale watching we have seen (7-8 tours in different locals).  Even got to see bubble feeding 5 times!

dave okc we are considering doing an August Alaska cruise.  Have done late May in the past and it was wonderful.  I totally understand weather is unpredictable  but curious what the weather was like for you in September.

thanks!

We had an excellent tour 4 years ago.  We used Ephesus Shuttle and our contact  was Suzan.  Our tour was called Private Ephesus with Terrace Houses, Artemission Temple Tour and included a traditional Turkish lunch.  I arranged the tour and it was 5 hours in length.  There were 4 of us on the tour and the total cost was $304 US or $76 US per person.  It was well worth it!  

Even though it took over one hour, was worth it.  Got free gratuities added to our 3 booked cruises and prices dropped on two of the cruises so got those cost savings plus kept earlier perks!  Christmas came early for us!  

We had two similar experiences with Trip Mate and we will never use them again.  It was HORRIBLE!  Exercise in frustration and incompetence.  My understanding is trip mate is the claims processing component and is used by Travel Safe and Global Alert and possibly other trip insurance companies.  Now when I buy insurance I make sure Trip Mate is not going to be doing the claims processing.

Thank you to all who took the time to respond.  I did call ship services and spoke to a helpful representative who confirmed we are NOTt in violation.  I knew I could count on all of you to help me 😀

Booked an Alaskan Cruise RT Vancouver and then decided to add on the next segment which is Vancouver to San Diego.  Is this B2B in violation of the PVSA or will we be ok?

Don't want any last minute surprises..

Thank you.

4 hours ago, RuthC said:

Word is that the three 21-day Alaska cruises this year had trouble selling, so it's unlikely that it will reappear. 
Pity, too, as it was a fabulous itinerary, and I would love to take it again. Even if they had it only once a year would be better than nothing. 

That is disappointing to us as well.  was hoping for at least an every other year sailing.  Guess we missed our chance...

On 9/17/2019 at 3:07 PM, Vineyard View said:

That is what I hear! Thanks for this input kazu.  United is my concern. It’s been several years since we flew international business  with them and it was just okay. Any recent experience with UA would be appreciated. 

Also, do you find that you generally receive the seats that you requested? 

Once booked, how do you check flights to see what new ones may be available without canceling what you have? Do you just click on ‘change flights’.?  I wouldn’t want to cancel what I have by accident. 

We flew United Business class RT Amsterdam this summer.  We were quite pleased with it.  Seats were very roomy, great selection of tv entertainment, food tasty plus the usual creature comforts.  United is not in my top 10 for domestic travel so I was hesitant booking them through  Flightease but we had no complaints.

We were on Nieuw Statendam in July and had the cloth bags.  Celebrity has the paper bags and they tear so easily.