rothbury

I equate Nassau to be the "armpit" of the Bahamas.  If I was going there, I wouldn't even leave the ship.  Back in the 1970's it was a nice port but the last time we were there we couldn't get back to the ship quick enough.  I think where I would have a problem is with paying for Key West and getting Nassau.  That is like paying for 5-star experience and getting a 1-star substitute.  Just think for a minute that if the tendering couldn't happen in HMC or Grand Cayman, almost your entire cruise would be onboard a ship.  Might not be all that bad if you had the HIA beverage package.

No reason to rush to get there early since they did away with the embarkation lunch.

Different question but does anybody know if Global Entry is being recognized at debarkation?  Just curious.  Ours expired during covid.  Don't know if it's worth renewing anymore.

Hope you're right!  But I'll believe it when I see it and they notify me for my upcoming cruise.

I know this sounds selfish for the CCL stock.  I hope all of this comes to an end and things start getting back to normal.  The stock has taken a beating since March 2020.  It would be nice to see it get back into really positive territory.

It seemed his "key word" was "happiness".  When you take almost all of the amenities away and start charging for food options that were once included it is hard to think of the word happiness.  I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for now but if he starts turning HAL into "Fun Ships", I'm done.  Can't sell my stock without taking a huge loss so I just have to see where it goes.

That $129 is each.  Just had some friends take an Alaska cruise.  Went to Walgreens for their test and it was $348 for both of them.

Rotterdam in Rotterdam (Taken a few minutes ago)

Norway

Good morning!  I was watching NCIS: Los Angeles last night and early in the show the actors are walking down the beach.  In the background was a HAL ship.  Due to depth of field, it was never in focus but you could see the twin stacks and color scheme enough to know it was HAL.

I have a story dealing with HAL's emergency line, too.  Several years ago, we had taken an Alaska cruise and on the return home our flight was late into Philly.  We missed our connecting flight, and I called the emergency number.  Sounds like I got the same response you did to leave a voice mail which I did.  To this day (several years now) I have never been called back by those folks.  The airline said not to worry we will put you up for the night.  We were picked up in an unmarked van and driven to a Motel 6 just off of airport property.  We had the driver take us back to the airport and slept in the terminal taking turns until the next day when we were able to book a flight to get us to our home airport.  When I contacted HAL, their response was a very simple, "Wow".  That was it.

The lesson we learned from that.  We still cruise with HAL but we will NEVER fly with their service again.   

Thanks for the Daily Report.  I read them every day but don't comment very often.

I still can't help but wonder why HAL is being so secretive about the 3-day charter on the Rotterdam.  Can't find an itinerary anywhere.  Other than HMC where can you go on a 3-day cruise?  Watched it leave yesterday with passengers, so HAL cancelled a 7-day cruise and inconvenienced people for a 3- day charter.  I just thought HAL was better than that.

I wonder how many are onboard for this 4 day cruise right now.

Couldn't bring myself to watch the Rotterdam leave.  This was our cruise until HAL cancelled it.  Not worth driving 4 days for a 4 day cruise.

Yeah, I know what the 4 day cruise is.  It was originally scheduled to be a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise.  I was curious what the ship was going to do for the other 3 days.  Usually if there is a mechanical problem somebody would have posted about it.  This has been a scheduled 3 day mystery since the first week of December.  They could be going to Freeport for some type of repair, but it just seems strange that it was scheduled 3 months ago.  Also, Freeport doesn't show it on their schedule.

Has anybody ever heard what is going on with the Rotterdam next month when it cut a 7-day cruise to 4?  I've checked several websites for an itinerary but don't see anything.

I have been following along with these threads about quarantine.  I think what I am coming to a conclusion is how HAL seems to be so arbitrary and elitist in who and how passengers are being treated while isolated.  You and a number of others have talked about the lack of communications and information while others have had multiple visits and phone calls including phone calls from executive level representatives at HAL.  You get mediocre food served in cardboard trays, paper cups and wooden utensils while others get their meals served on china plates, glasses with silverware.  They've had every need tended to while others are treated like 2nd or 3rd class.  Yeah, HAL's elitism is definitely on full display.  DW and I have talked about how this looks to the point of moving away from HAL.  We could maybe understand if they didn't prepare for this, but they should have and probably have had procedures in place since last year when they started Alaska cruises.  Definitely treating star status mariners based on how many stars and sea days they have.  

If you go to the webcam, drop down list you will see one that says, "Camera Status".  The latest entry is the Fort Lauderdale camera.  It is located at the Pier 66 hotel which is undergoing a major renovation.  Not only is the Fort Lauderdale camera down but it may never come back.  Or it could be several years before it does.

Sorry you are having to deal with this.  DW is immunocompromised so no cruising for us.  We had a 2020 cruise cancelled and rescheduled for 2022 and HAL cancelled that one, too.  At this point I would have to say I am glad they did.

Just a curiosity question.  I recall several other cruisers talking about their quarantine and got to thinking.  You don't have a room card key.  I know the ships require a room card to keep the lights on.  How have they handled that?  Did they just slide a cardboard cutout into the slot?  Stupid question, I know, but just curious.

Still amazes me how they cancelled the March 6 cruise on Rotterdam and there was a $50 OBC if you rebooked a spring 2022 cruise with no apologies or accommodation at all.   I guess that is HAL's new great customer service!  Actually, lost FCC from a covid cancelled cruise.  Nice work HAL!  No letter.  Just a "notification" that the cruise was cancelled.

1 hour ago, NMCruiser123 said:

2 tests originally.  Antigen and then PCR to rule out false positive.  No further testing.  I went to College at William and Mary btw

 

Don't know when you were here but if it has been a while, you probably wouldn't recognize our "little town" these days.  Overdeveloped big time.

I can't help but ask this question.  Do they give you another test to confirm the result?  I guess I'm thinking if this is based on just one test who or what is to say that it is not a false positive?

Been keeping up with this thread.  I'm rooting for you!

I miss the customer service.  Now they act like they are doing you a favor just to talk with them on the phone.  And that is only when somebody actually answers the phone.

Interesting how they still show a Continuing Education Group onboard the Rotterdam for March 6 - 13.  That cruise has been cancelled.

Either way you want it.  Assuming you used a credit card it is credited back to that.  On our March 6 cruise that was cancelled we actually lost quite a bit of FCC and FCD.  We saw a credit on or account for the entire cost of the cruise and according to our PCC they no longer show FCD or the FCC we were given for a pandemic cancelled cruise.  Seems to be a bit arbitrary the way they handle it.  They originally deducted the insurance premium even though they were the ones who cancelled the cruise.  We had to argue that point and it was credited back.  A shore excursion was also cancelled and they charged a $15 per person cancellation fee for that.  We are still trying to resolve that.

Just looked at my last cruise contract.  If YOU cancel the cruise with less than 30 days and no insurance; you lose 100% of your fare.  If you had CPP Cancellation insurance and you cancelled up to the day before the cruise you would get your cruise fare back.  However, the insurance premium would NOT be refunded to you.

If HAL is forced to shutdown (highly unlikely) again, then it is up to HAL as to how they handle refunds or FCC.