AndreaB

Just arrived at Marco Polo airport from the Eurodam. Captain made the safety announcement late afternoon yesterday. And said with the high winds and the nation turns into marchers, he could not guarantee safety of the ship. HAL went to work and managed to figure out how to get us all to the airport early this morning to make our flights. Very responsive given all the logistics. Early morning and departure for some passengers and a very late night and very early morning for much of the crew. Kudos to HAL. 
 

AndreaB

Sorry, tour “modification”. (I was very jetlagged).

Andrea

We had our hotel arrange a taxi pickup for us. A different parking lot that you can see from the testing tent that’s a two minute walk away. I Don’t think Viking was allowing early arrivals with these first sailings. 

Arrived in Iceland this morning. Immigration and customs went very smoothly (have the barcode you received from your preregistration with the Icelandic government handy). The tests are done in a tent outside after you go through customs. My mom received her results within 4 hours and I did after seven (despite taking our tests at the same time). There were atms in the airport, but also plentiful around Reykavik. Viking sent us a tour medication this evening so clearly some things still in flux. But the country is beautiful and the residents happy to have us. 
 

Andrea

I’ll definitely let you know about the ATM because I’ll be on the lookout for one as well. 
 

Andrea

We leave tomorrow so will post on Wednesday about our arrival. Safe travels all. 
 

Andrea

Thank you Gail and Marty. I put a $100 deposit down for both (just in case). 
 

Andrea

Do you know if Grand Asia for 2023 or 2024?

Also just checked. All of the 2021 sailings of the Enchanted have disappeared. Guessing more to come....

Yes, the absence of their inclusion in today’s announcement was both glaring and discouraging. 

Good to know. Thank you. 

Carnival Corp. just issued a press release that mentions six of its nine brands are expected to resume limited cruising this summer. HAL is not included among the six. I am quite disappointed and a bit concerned about what this means for HAL. Here’s a link to the press release. 
 

https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/carnival-corporation-plc-provides-first-quarter-2021-business-0

Andrea

Colorado

Same problem here and also an Xfinity user. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully with my very meager IT skills to fix it. At least I know it’s not just me. 
 

Andrea

I booked it as soon as I heard it opened as well. I did the first half of this cruise on the Prinsendam in 2019 and loved it. Deciding as soon as I got home that I had to return to Antarctica (amazing experience), I had booked myself a cruise to Antarctica on the Westerdam originally for January 2021 (which I then changed to 2022), but am much more excited about being able to do another Grand Voyage and the full voyage this time. I know that HAL transferred reservations over from the 2021 Grand, but was still surprised that there were only two lanai cabins still available (happy to have snagged one). Looking forward to meeting everyone. 
 

AndreaB

Hello All,

I cancelled my spring cruises March 9th. My refund was finally processed by HAL on May 29th and showed up on my credit card account today. So they’re slowly starting. 
 

Good luck and hopefully we’ll all be sailing again soon. 
 

Andrea

Hello All,

I cancelled my spring cruises March 9th. My refund was finally processed by HAL on May 29th and showed up on my credit card account today. So they’re slowly starting. 
 

Good luck and hopefully we’ll all be sailing again soon. 
 

Andrea

I’m crying to. So happy for the passengers that they now can continue on their journey home. They must be so relieved. God speed. 
 

Andrea

Thank you Roy for sharing. We can enjoy as part of our stay at home virtual cruise. 
 

Andrea

I cancelled my two on March 9th and also have not heard or received anything from HAL yet. 
 

Andrra

Welcome home Kathi!

So glad you made it safely and are sleeping in your own bed!  Thank you for sharing your journey with us. 
 

Andrea

Welcome home Sherita!  So glad you’re back safe and sound!  What a very long “30 minutes.”  Stay healthy my friend.

Andrea

For what it’s worth, I was told we would receive an email notifying us when the FCC is posted to our account. 
 

Andrea

I did call and was told they are very very slowly working through the queue in order of when the cancellation was done. They said it’s unprecedented and did not have a timeframe but that they are diligently working through the pile. 
 

So we’ll see. 
 

Andrea

I cancelled May 9th and still no refund. I will be calling tomorrow. 
 

Andrea

Sherita, thinking of you and wishing you Godspeed and safe travels til you’re back with your grandkids agin. I’m sure you can’t wait to give them a big hug. Think of the stories you have for them (and us). Before long hopefully and no doubt you’ll be back to adventuring again. 
 

Andrea