Gray Lady

Have you tried On-Point or Total Testing Solutions? I know they both have offices in LA. They offer in-person and proctored tests.

Nancy, you have went above and beyond to try and get an answer. I think a better question to the CC community would be if anyone has had their test denied for boarding done by these proctoring sites. I believe the people from HAL answering the question think people are doing the home tests without medical proctoring. The on-line proctoring services all offer “medically observed” tests. I don’t believe they care which brand of test you take, just if it is medically observed. Then again, I can’t help but have this little nagging at the back of my mind that somehow kickbacks are involved from the sale of OptumRx tests.

I have a curiosity question. Would you please let us know how long it takes HAL to refund your money? I know they are very slow because of all the cancellations. We were refunded a few of our excursions from our interrupted trip, but have not received any money for the rest of them. When I called, I was told to fill out an expense form AFTER our trip insurance settled with us, and they would process the rest. We are still waiting for that. I have a feeling it will be another month before that happens, and then a few months until HAL finishes paying us. I guess they don’t realize that we won’t book another cruise until we have all of our money back. They are sort of shooting themselves in the leg in that regard.

I am so sorry this happened to you! All the planning for naught. This is a late date to try and book something for then! 😢 I am sure it is due to staffing shortages and/or COVID cases. My fingers are crossed for you getting reimbursed quickly. In hindsight, I wish they would have cancelled us. It would have been better than spending five days (no nights because of the time of year) in COVID isolation in Anchorage looking out at the Home Depot parking lot. With all of the disappointment, especially over the cruise, you may have just dodged a bullet!

I know that I called HAL with this question, and was told that testing sites, such as Total Testing Solutions, On-Point, etc. were acceptable because they were medically affiliated, video proctored, and were able to email you a QR code. These test results have been accepted by HAL for boarding.

An FYI that I forgot to state in my previous post. Total Testing Solutions only costs $15 per person and you can use any FDA approved unopened test.

We used Total Testing Solutions. They use internet based testing, which means you don’t need an app for them to test you. My husband and I both registered, but tested together. We gave them our insurance information and we didn’t have to pay. They send you an email confirmation which has a link. When your test time comes up (I made back-to-back appointments in case it took a long time), just click on the link. We were connected right away. They were very thorough. She watched each one of us open our tests, swab and mix, then pour out our drops. She timed it for 15 minutes for each one of us. During the down time she checked that our email address was correct and chatted. She had made us mark our test indicators with a marker so she knew which belonged to whom. Once she looked at our test, she sent us an email. She stayed on the line until we verified that we had received it with the QR code. It was very easy and very professional. I highly recommend them!

I am sorry to hear that you are now sick. There are so many opportunities for that darned virus to use you as a host! I am glad that you were at least able to have your vacation before coming down with it. We never made it out of Denali and missed our first cruise ever. Once we get our reimbursements we are deciding if we even want to try a cruise again next year. Hope you have a speedy recovery. Be glad at least you are home and not in quarantine somewhere else.

My uninformed guess would be the length of time spent on airplanes versus cruise ships (hours versus days)and your cohorts. I can guarantee you that on almost every flight at least one person has COVID. It is all a crap-shoot.

I think posting the FCC doesn’t require any cash out of pocket. Reimbursement of funds for quarantine through trip insurance or from HAL requires actual cash. Also, trip insurance companies and HAL are backed waaaay up due to lack of help and an over-abundance of claims due to COVID.

There are good points made on both sides. And I can tell you, I am so totally ready to be done with COVID!! But COVID is not done with us. Speaking from experience, and I have posted before about some of the details, I can tell you my thoughts about testing and quarantine. Testing two days prior to embarkation or starting a land tour is too far out. This gives people a false sense of security. Many still travel by plane after the test. Unless everyone is wearing a high quality mask in crowded airports and on planes, there is no guarantee that you won’t get the virus. I believe proximity is a huge factor in transmission (not scientific, just based on personal experience). Do masks truly stop this new variant? They MAY help mitigate it. I do know they help stop the spread of germs. After taking the test, then people believe they are not going to get it. After arrival on ship or on their tour, they can then spread or catch it. (We wore masks the entire time from airport arrival to positive test, but we were in the minority. It still found DH.) I think by testing this way, HAL helps cut down on their expenses. If you tested positive before boarding the ship, they would have to pay for your quarantine, food, airfare, etc. and lose the cruise money. If they didn’t test at all, and treated COVID like the common cold, then they COULD have entire ships full of sick people. Even vaxxed and boosted people can still get extremely ill, though the odds are you won’t. Each time you get sick also increases the chances of long COVID. If no testing was the case, what would have prevented us from continuing on our land tour knowing DH was positive and then infecting everyone else? Would that be the right thing to do? Would that be something that anyone would take a chance on? I know that I became sick due to close proximity in our quarantine room. I believe we would have infected most everyone on our tour. Quarantine is very expensive for the cruise lines. We were quarantined on land and they charge you either $550 or $650 a night depending on where you stay. They also allow $100 per person per diem for food. Transportation to the airport is paid as is the expenses for your flight change. HAL is also out our money for the rest of our land tour and our entire cruise, not to mention on-board incidentals. Our trip insurance will reimburse us first, but HAL will pay for anything they don’t. This is on top of them having empty hotel rooms and cabins due to our catching COVID. Yes, cruising is taking a chance. We knew that going in. We were hoping that others understood this, too. You gamble: sometimes you win; sometimes you lose. We will probably be mask wearers for the rest of our lives (we prefer not to) not only for us, but for others. Life has shifted for all. And the answers are always changing and evolving……

If this is for a negative test before a land portion of your tour, unless things have changed, HAL won’t even ask you for your test results. You might want to check and see if Safeway pharmacies in Fairbanks offer testing. Also, Total Testing Solutions on-line offers testing for everyone in your party at one sitting using the free government tests. You just have to make an appointment for each person, but they do everyone at the same time. Easiest test I have ever done.

Yes, we purchased our insurance with HAL so we will be able to get our money back for everything we missed, which is almost everything, and our quarantine costs. Extremely glad we did that. They also changed our flights home for us at no additional charge.

I have an excursion question which I hope experienced cruisers here can help me with. We booked our first cruise ever to Alaska, along with a land tour component first. We booked all of our excursions through HAL. We were one of the many who came down with COVID on land prior to our cruise (we did wear masks the entire time, but the virus just doesn’t care) due to too many people packed together. We missed half of our land tour and all of our cruise. Because we booked our excursions with HAL, everything we missed is being refunded to us. If we had booked with outside vendors, would we get our excursion money back? Would we have had to contact each vendor ourselves to get a refund? I just am curious for a future cruise. Thank you in advance. Also, I have enjoyed reading the impressions of a first time cruiser, which we hope to be in the future. I also appreciate the pictures of things we weren’t able to see. makes it seem like we were there.

I can speak from experience about the Aptel. DH came down with COVID in Denali. We think he caught it in Fairbanks. No one wears masks or social distances. We did, but the virus doesn’t care if you are in close quarters and no one else is masked. We were bussed to Anchorage….HAL and Princess passengers. The. Voyager Inn was full, another hotel Beacon Health Care had secured rooms in was full, so the Aptel was the one that had rooms available. It is true, when you are quarantined in your room and can’t even go out in the hall, it doesn’t matter where you are. We had seven different couples on our bus that day. You are charged $550 per day, but it will be reimbursed in the future. Too many people mixing pre-cruise and post-cruise. The post cruisers don’t care because they already had their cruise. The pre-cruisers miss their cruise. Just too much pent-up demand and too many people jammed into close quarters. I think if people knew the actual COVID positive numbers, they would be shocked.

Thank you for sharing your experience. Do you have any ships that you recommend?

Thank you. From what I have read, I would consider sailing on Celebrity, Princess, or HAL. We do not care for the party atmosphere. It also seems that any of the Panama Canal cruises would be 15 to 17 days. I will look into Viking. We saved 4 years for our Alaskan cruise that we didn’t get to go on. We picked a Signature Suite because we wanted a room more like a hotel room in size. We just want to have more of a traditional experience for our first cruise. I picked HAL more for the itinerary, though. To me that is the most important thing. I appreciate all of the information. When researching Alaska, I found that reading/listening to others who had went on cruises there helped immensely.

I am so glad that you were able to make your entire trip. Hope you had a wonderful time with good weather! 🎉

Since we have never been through the canal, or been on any cruise ship, do you have a favorite or two you would recommend? We were supposed to go on the NA in Alaska. I am guessing the minimum cabin would be one with a balcony? As for testing, I am in complete agreement with our great blogger here: Total Testing Solutions is the absolute best way to go. You do it on your timeline, and they don’t end the call until the results are in your inbox.

That is fine with me! Maybe more people will be more cognizant of their behavior if that is required.

Be very careful in Denali and Fairbanks. Because people test negative before leaving home, many seem to think they aren’t going to contract or spread the virus. I assume you are bringing some home test kits. If you think you have any allergy symptoms at all, it could be COVID. My symptoms were no different than the usual season allergies. This may be one reason it is spreading so easily. Also, I would urge you to pack a “COVID kit” with things you may need just in case. I was so grateful that we did and didn’t have to buy any meds through DoorDash. Think things such as Mucinex, DayQuil and NyQuil caps, cough drops, Vicks, and some Robitussin. They are things you need at home anyway for cold season. Chamomile tea bags are also good to have. Please let me know how it goes with you and if many are still testing positive.

We tested positive on our land tour, but it was before HAL did their pre-cruise testing. The “trip interruption specialist” told us that everyone is tested in Anchorage. DH tested positive in Denali. We informed them of this, and they bussed us and Princess passengers to Anchorage. We stayed at a hotel that Beacon Health Services had arranged. They had three hotels they were utilizing when we were there. The cost is $550 to $650 per night. It is reimbursable through your travel insurance (if they don’t pay, then HAL will). You also have to pay for your meals and they will be reimbursed. You cannot leave your hotel room for anything. It is difficult to find a hotel on your own that will allow COVID patients to quarantine. The first day of positivity is day 0. You then have to quarantine for 5 days; after that you are cleared to travel home if you are fever free. Of course, I caught it being isolated in a room with hubby. Our symptoms were very mild. My advice is to be VERY careful and bring a credit card with enough cap space in case you are unfortunate. We wore masks the entire time starting at the airport. Hardly anyone else wore a mask either while traveling or on our land tour. There are a lot of people packed into restaurants, hotels, and tours. If you have any other questions, I will be happy to answer them.

Thank you. Yes, we are recovered. The shots do work! We wore masks the entire time, but very few people did. We were four days into our land tour when DH became sick. We went and told them so we wouldn’t infect others. They isolated us for five days in Anchorage, and we missed the rest of our land tour and the cruise. I know that we weren’t the only ones, as they were using three different hotels for COVID patients. Just too much pent-up demand and a short Alaskan season. We are going to wait at least another year and try again for our first cruise, and not do any land tour. Maybe the Panama Canal??

Agree that you dodged a bullet. In hindsight, I really wish they had cancelled our cruise tour instead of having COVID cancel it for us!

She is the perfect age to enjoy a trip like this. How wonderful for both of you and her to have this special time together! I hope that in the future we can do something like this with our granddaughter. I have enjoyed your trip “with” all of you!