syesmar

@HUNKY and @BermudaBound2014 what was the Subject Line of the e-mail offering the free cruise? Also, had you logged in to HAL’s website and “favorited” any sailings prior to the e-mail? Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Agree with the advice to call the Mariner Society. I will try to find my notes, but I called about this before. I believe the policy is if you’re on a 21 day or longer cruise and within a couple of days of the next star, they will grant you the status for the sailing. But you need to contact them in advance.

The color status with today’s update, based on 6/10/22 data, is still the same on all ships as Post 211. The only change is that Westerdam (Green) is again listed as passenger-carrying.

@Oldies123 That’s odd. Did they cancel your dining while onboard or prior to sailing? Who was the cruise and travel director for this sailing? Thanks for sharing your experience.

@SJSULIBRARIANThere are currently 2 Green passenger-carrying ships and 2 Yellow passenger-carrying ships reporting to the CDC. With HAL there used to be some fluctuation with passenger-carrying ships, but since April 18 they’ve been consistently Orange (Eurodam and Zuiderdam had brief improvements mid-May).

Yes. Usually the Port Talk was vital port information and the other was highlighting shore excursions. In our case in 2019, though, the EXC talk was more of an enrichment talk serving as an introduction of sorts to Norway, rather than a shore excursion-selling talk.

Based on today's update, with data as of 6/7/22, Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Zaandam and Zuiderdam remain Orange (equivalent to pre-update Yellow). Westerdam was moved back to “Crew Only” and is listed as Green.

That’s unfortunate. These talks often conflict with other activities and it was always nice to catch up at our convenience. I wonder if this is due to a staffing issue? I recall the last time I sailed, in 2019, the first night’s EXC talk was not put on TV (a good number of passengers were still at dinner, too). There were a lot of passengers who complained and every EXC talk, port talk, etc., was aired thereafter.

Based on today's update, with data as of 6/3/22, Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Zaandam and Zuiderdam remain Orange (equivalent to pre-update Yellow). Westerdam, now passenger-carrying, is also now Orange.

What is the current cancellation policy for most HAL excursions? When I last cruised it was penalty-free up until a certain point and then a % within a certain window, but I’m not sure if things have changed.

Agree. A simple note like, “A minimum of 20 participants is needed for this tour. If this number is not reached, this excursion is subject to cancellation” would at least give those booking it some info. I agree it could be a motivating factor.

For those who have previously accepted one of these offers: does this also include airline change fees and/or hotel cancellation fees (if applicable)?

Could someone share what the current questions are on HAL’s Health Assessment? Thanks!

HAL may be concerned about you as a close household contact, depending on the timing: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/COVID-19-protection-program.html https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/travel-well/frequently-asked-questions/faq-for-cruises-from-usa.html Also see CDC guidance for travel: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-during-covid19.html Best wishes to you and your husband. Prayers for his continued recovery and that you stay well.

Our final experience was good, the day before was a nightmare! One just never knows from day-to-day! Good advice! Even though my last issue at Schiphol was pre-pandemic, I went in with a list of backup flights and airport hotels “just in case” (and we needed both), and if I had not, wouldn’t have had good connections (that they tried to reschedule for us), our journey back home would’ve been much longer and not in business class that we’d paid for. AA didn’t give guidance on allowable expenses for hotels, they just told us to go and find one and turn the expense in later. We went back to the airport hotel where we had spent our first night after landing and they had one room we could check in right away, so we were fortunate. Of course any last-minute hotel in Europe is going to be expensive, and they initially didn’t want to pay for all of it, but everything worked out after going back and forth, but it was a hassle. But I knew our passenger rights. We were able to claim EU Regulation EC 261/2004 for the delay.

I’m sure that’s incredibly frustrating. Are they keeping the isolation/quarantine area sealed off? There were reports a few weeks back about doors being left open and lists of positive passengers posted where others could see (was supposed to be for crew to see for service, but something went amiss). Thanks for sharing, hope you have a wonderful cruise!

They do, at least for check in. My last flights in 2019 were to/from here, and it was also a nightmare when I was there. Flights were delayed on our way in, and we waited for hours in passport control due to a lack of staffing with the bottleneck of flights coming in at once. Then our original flight home post-cruise got canceled. We couldn’t reach AA by phone prior to leaving the ship due to technical issues causing hours’ long waits in the US, and had to sort out our cancellation at the airport. All passengers for the canceled flight had to stand in the same line, they did not allow business class to use the priority lane. Our flight was rescheduled to the next day, and we were allowed to use the expedited lane, which saved considerable time. I believe they allowed us to use a priority security lane after, but recall thinking it wasn’t that much faster that day. ymmv. Best wishes to all!

@cruise101This Thread has detailed almost all of the changes in CDC Color Status for HAL ships in US waters since the re-start: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2794220-cdc-yellow-category-for-na-does-anyone-have-any-info-as-to-why/page/8/ Koningsdam has been “Orange” since late April. They don’t release numbers, however other social media formats and CC roll calls sometimes can give an idea of how things went on a particular sailing, as eyewitnesses in Quarantine/ Isolation may report on the number of cabins or what staff has told them, etc. HAL has recently extended their “Worry Free Promise” https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/worry-free-promise/flexible-cancellation.html As others mentioned, there are a few “Isolation Report” Threads (some contained within “Live Froms”) that are very insightful on how quarantine/isolation is handled. All the Best!

@flowery This Thread may be of interest to you: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2854546-hal-just-implemented-masks-again-on-rotterdam/

The updated isolation guidance was to prevent economic collapse from so many missing work, even as they acknowledged most were still infectious to some degree beyond the isolation period.

@SunNFunCruzerThis Thread has documented just about every Color Status Change on HAL ships in US waters since the re-start: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2794220-cdc-yellow-category-for-na-does-anyone-have-any-info-as-to-why/ While the data should be cross-referenced with other factors, it is helpful when looking at trends. All Passenger-Carrying HAL ships have been consistently Orange for a number of weeks. On May 11, there was a one-day improvement (Eurodam went from Orange to Yellow then back to Orange), which was the first improvement of a HAL passenger-carrying ship in 4 weeks. Zuiderdam had a brief improvement on May 12 (to Yellow) and Friday, May 13 (to Green), but by the 5/16 data was back to Orange. Zaandam started carrying passengers on 5/12 and became Yellow with 5/13 data and Orange with the 5/17 data. It should be noted that Crew-Only Westerdam has been Green since the data submitted on January 21.

Wow! Sounds like quite an ordeal you experienced, that's becoming more frequent for travelers. Over the years, I've had airlines change their story on the reasoning for delays and cancellations. One time, it was a catering issue, I was told at the airport it was a catering issue and the reply from the airline's official form that's used for insurance purposes said it was a catering issue. But when I initially filed a claim related to EU Regulation EC 261/2004, they tried to say it was the weather and denied the claim; but I had documentation, and they overturned their initial rejection upon appeal. @madera1I'm glad things worked out for you. I like Club World on BA. Happy Sailing!

Based on today's update, with data as of 5/17, Westerdam (Crew Only) remains Green. Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam and Zuiderdam remain Orange (equivalent to pre-update Yellow). Zaandam is now Orange.

On my last sailing in 2019, they had already phased out the Yum Yum Man, which I missed. Did you request the hors d’oeuvres? The “Know Before You Go” online still says, under Shipboard Life-Shipboard Meals, “In addition to breakfast, lunch and a multi-course dinner, you can enjoy afternoon tea, hearty salads, comfort classics, global cuisine, an ice cream bar, hot hors d’oeuvres during the cocktail hours, and the traditional late-night snack.” https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq/know-before-you-go.html On a few cruises, I’ve had to request them, and they weren’t always in every lounge. Of course, KBYG still had “complimentary after-dinner cappuccinos” listed long after they started charging. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Based on today's update, with data as of 5/16, Westerdam (Crew Only) remains Green. Zaandam remains Yellow. Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Noordam remain Orange (equivalent to pre-update Yellow). Zuiderdam is back to Orange.