Gray Lady

I called HAL about our shore excursions from June that have not been refunded to us. They had to open another claim (we sent in our reimbursement form beginning of September). Apparently no one had bothered with the shore excursion part. Now it has to be approved by shore excursion management. When, who knows! Our claim for hotel and per diem has been approved, but no email sent to us yet letting us know when to expect payment. I told them we didn’t want to get attorneys involved and expected a quick outcome. I will give HAL until after Thanksgiving and then may have to get an attorney involved. They are sitting on our money using the interest for themselves. Obviously, retaining customers is not a priority. I always judge a company by the way they treat their customers when something goes wrong. This shows their integrity and will earn my loyalty and goodwill…..or not.

To me, this is just unacceptable. They want your money 90 days prior to sailing, but are in no hurry to return it to you when warranted. Total lack of customer service and appreciation, in my opinion.

That is the phrase I used with AON to get our cruise money refunded. I was very nice, and the money came within 5 days. I will use it the next time I call. I always try it once without using it, then use it in the following call.

I called HAL customer relations when the 8 week mark hit for reimbursement. I called on 3 different days and waited on hold for up to two hours. On the fourth day I got through! I gave them my information, and they were able to tell me that my claim had been approved, but it would take some time for them to send the money out. They owe us for meals and hotel. They were unable to tell me how much time it would take. I also asked about our shore excursions reimbursement, which should have been refunded to us a long time ago (we quarantined in June and are owed over $800 for excursions alone). The customer relations rep said she would email that department asking them to prioritize our refund. I will call shore excursions next week and try to light a fire under them. I will wait another week and call customer relations again to try and get them to hurry it up. We will not book another cruise until we get all this money back. It is not a good way to do business. We may need to try a different cruise line, too! I will let you know when we receive anything or have any new information.

We had to quarantine in Anchorage while on our HAL land tour before our cruise. AON took care of our cruise/land fare and $500 for our quarantine hotel. We filed with HAL after receiving our refund from AON for the rest of our hotel, meals, and our pre-paid excursions (which they should have refunded quickly after we were quarantined). It has been two months since we filed and they said it would take only 6 to 8 weeks. I will be on the phone this week trying to get them to process this. We already had to wait for AON, so HAL should process our reimbursements quite easily. We are beginning to think that HAL may be a cruise line we no longer want to do business with. They want their money 90 days in advance, and it has been a lot more than 90 days AFTER our cancelled cruise.

I would also add some Robitussin, Vicks, and chamomile teabags.

Fingers crossed that they get everything so they can start on your reimbursement! Amazing how everyone wants your money upfront, but then take a minimum of two months to reimburse you.

The $500 was just for the hotel, which we were charged $550 per night for a total of $3300! They would not pay anything for me because I didn’t have a positive test, even though HAL made us both quarantine (and of course, I then caught it too). AON would not pay for any meals because we didn’t have receipts. They told us to file a claim with HAL as per the letter we were given. We had test results emailed to us from Beacon Health Care, so that part was easy. Many Princess passengers were in the same hotel as we were, as we stopped at Princess lodges and picked them up on our way to Anchorage. HAL said it would take 6 to 8 weeks for the reimbursement, so I am counting the weeks and will contact them everyday once 8 weeks is done. They still owe us reimbursements for part of our shore excursions, too. Maybe ours was easier because we had the positive test on our land tour before our cruise????

We received our refund from AON two weeks ago, and have now filed for our per diem and the rest of our quarantine hotel with HAL. AON only reimbursed us for $500 for hotel. They said that is their maximum, and they will only pay for the person who had COVID. They said it would take 6 to 8 weeks. At the end of 8 weeks, if we haven’t received a notice of processing, I will call every day. They still need to refund us for shore excursions (which I submitted with the hotel and per diem). Fingers crossed they come through.

Yes, we were some of those folks in mid-June. We had never been to Alaska or on a cruise. Because the Alaska season is so short, by the time we heard about all of the COVID issues, it was too late to cancel without losing a lot of money. We hoped for the best, but it did not happen. DH contracted COVID in Fairbanks, and it manifested in Denali. Even though symptoms were very mild, we had to quarantine for 5 days in Anchorage and missed the rest of our tour and cruise. If we had to do it all over again, we would have cruised before the land tour or waited another year or two before going. Still waiting for our per diem and quarantine hotel to be refunded. Right now I don’t know if we even want to attempt another cruise going anywhere.

One thing to consider when booking air….what if you get COVID while on your cruise? Booking through your cruise line allows for flights to be rebooked at no extra cost to you. They do all of the rebooking and do not charge you extra. If you book on your own, you are responsible for change fares. The prices are very competitive, at times even cheaper, than booking on your own. They offer many choices of flights, and you don’t pay until final payment is due. Just something to consider…….

Even without insurance it is only $18.99 using your own test. You don’t need an app to take the test, either.

We used Total Testing Solutions and they billed our insurance. Very easy. You can do more than one person at a time, you just have to make separate appointments. You can use any approved CDC test or you can buy one from them.

Hopefully you have those things, but we were told we didn’t need to have receipts for the per diem for food. If it took 10 weeks for you, then they should be getting to ours I. The next two weeks. Keep us posted as to how it goes. Fingers crossed for you!🤞

You check in with the airlines the same as if you had made the reservation yourself. Just use the confirmation number Flight Ease gave you. I always go on-line and check that the reservation is there with the airline itself. We print out our boarding pass at home, and pre-pay for our luggage. It is very easy-peasy. Hope this helps.

Something needs to be done about this. It is not right. You need to pay 90 days ahead. Maybe your claim should be paid out in 60 days or you get double!! Even though 90 days is still too long!!

Thank you, kind sir, for your postings from this cruise. You and your wife always make me feel like I have been a stowaway with you on your trips. Your pictures are definitely worth a thousand words. The cool weather looks especially enticing with all of this California heat! Thank you again!

I incorrectly assumed your cruise line…so sorry. Princess and HAL work the same, questions still apply only with Princess.

I called today, and the woman actually talked to me without the “script”. She did say it was AON and not HAL who was taking so much time. Did you receive a check for part of your money from AON? I just want to make sure I am understanding correctly. You tested positive after arriving in Seattle from Florida, correct? Just wondering what you submitted to AON. Did you ask for your flight money and hotel money from them? Did you book those things on your own or with HAL? I may be able to give you some help depending on the answers to these questions.

For AON: 1-800-453-4057. I have also emailed them, and received a standard reply that they are “behind.” I have had no response from HAL guest services about my email to them for refunding our missed excursions. It has been 7 weeks, going on 8. This next week I will get firmer with AON and see if that starts some movement. Not only are we out our cruise and land tour money, we have $4500 to be reimbursed from our quarantine. It seems that the cruise lines and insurance companies are both dragging their feet. I am getting to the point that I don’t want to try another cruise!

Have you received all of your money back yet? Just curious if they reimbursed everything to you. I have contacted AON about our trip claim, and have received the standard reply about them being overwhelmed, etc. I will try again next week…and the next week until we get some movement. I emailed HAL about our excursions not being refunded, but have received no reply…no surprise.

Just wondering if you are now at home. Hope everything went well for you getting there!

You can buy an FDA approved test at any drugstore and book an appointment with any of the medically proctored on-line health services.

I just looked on-line and see that it is now $25 per person. The advantage is you can use your free government tests. They offer insurance options if you are from California. You may want to check at Safeway stores in Anchorage to see what they offer. They may do rapid tests there. Hope this helps.

Have you thought of bringing government approved tests and doing them while being proctored? Total Tearing Solutions does them for $15 per person. These are accepted by HAL. You make 3 appointments and can do your tests together. Very easy on the budget.