rajkr74

We had a 14 day Alaska cruise scheduled for May 18, 2020 that was canceled by HAL.  We contacted our TA and took the 125% FCC. Don't remember the date we had our TA call HAL but were fine knowing it could be 90 days until we got the port fees and taxes refunded.   Well we got credit onto our creditcard yesterday for the port fees.  We got notice via e-mail from HAL back on June 9th for the FCC.  It now shows up on-line when we log into our HAL account (nice added on-line info by HAL).

We had friends on this same cruise that also got their full refund yesterday along with other friends that were on this same Alaska cruise that started the day we ended our cruise who got their full refund yesterday also.  It appears the processing is finally coming thru at a brisk pace.

Well....the Sept. 30th date doesn't help us with an Oct. 3rd sailing from Rotterdam.  With an original final payment date of aprox. July 4th we are not sure we will be able to assess the Covid-19 situation at that time on whether to cancel or make the payment.  An Aug. 4th date would give us a better view.  But who knows, this can change in a hour.

Found this link from KVAL-TV in Eugene OR from an interview done by it's sister station KOMO-TV in Seattle with Seth Wayne, Brand Ambassador for HAL.  As reported earlier he was on the Zaandam during this cruise ordeal.  This article and video gives us an inside view of what transpired during the cruise back to Ft. Lauderdale.  Seth was a meteorologist at KVAL-TV Eugene Oregon prior to going to KOMO-TV in Seattle.  

https://kval.com/news/coronavirus/this-isnt-stopping-me-from-cruising-former-komo-weatherman-recounts-trip-on-zaandam

Just noticed Captain Jonathan of the Amsterdam just posted on his blog board.  It was dated March 29 and has a "strange" video he did walking around the "empty" ship.

Here is the link to his blog:

http://captainjonathan.com/and-on-the-8th-day-30th-march/

I think HAL is canceling Alaska cruises by "blocks" of dates, i.e. thru April 14th, then thru May 14th, next thru June 14th etc. etc.  I feel this is how HAL can manage the work-call loads that would be generated from the cancelations.  It would be better to handle only the customers from each block then everyone calling thru a July 1st. cancelation period. We have a May 18th cruise out of Vancouver to Alaska booked and am pretty sure it will be cancelled.  Just waiting for HAL to cancel that cruise until we start making contact with them.  They are just BURIED with dealing with the results of this pandemic.  No one had any idea what havoc this pandemic would cause.  Patience is the name of the game and we will wait until ours gets cancelled by HAL. 

4 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

Kudos to that Commissioner, Dr. Barbara Sharief! 

That's a commissioner I'd vote for at a drop of a hat!!  Great comments from her!

Also picked up the comment from Burk at the Broward Co. meeting that there are two passengers who are very sick on the Zaandam that they were requesting be medivaced off the ship to Mexico but MX declined the request.  He also stated that they would need immediate medical attention in Ft. Lauderdale "if they made there". 

Very sad situation.

Here also watching both ships get thru the lock.  Happy for them especially the Rotterdam which we will be on in Oct. We hope. 😉  Now we pray everything else goes smoothly and everyone on board both ships stay safe and healthy.

Good to see the Zaandam get thru the new Cocoli locks.  Now which locks will the Rotterdam go thru?

Boy you folks are so fast in posting photos of the Zaandam that I am only going to watch your's  instead of posting mine. 😁 

2 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

It appears that the Zaandam has moved ahead of the Europa in the queue, so perhaps the authorities are allowing the ship to move ahead.  Is that realistic, or just wishful thing on my part?

 

I can not begin to imagine the stress on the passengers and crew, never mind their families at home. Bless them all.

The Europa has been sitting at the Panama Canal anchorage for a number of days.  She was previously in Puerto Vallarta MX prior to her current location.

Found this USA Today article.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/four-dead-138-sick-on-holland-americas-ms-zaandam-cruise-in-limbo-amid-coronavirus-crisis/ar-BB11Oc2j?li=BBnb7Kz

Pray for all involved and those who lost family members on the Zaandam.

Has anyone signed up the book and movie rights to this saga?  😁 

Crossing my fingers and hoping everything goes right this morning in LA.

34 minutes ago, Kansas Gal said:

Thanks for the info.  I assume Holland America doesn't actually own properties in the Yukon (i.e. Dawson and Whitehorse) and they just put you in a regular hotel.  So the vouchers would probably only be good at these hotels?  I wasn't sure how many restaurants might be in these more remote areas.

We did a 14 day Land-Sea cruise that had Dawson and Whitehourse as stops in 2016.  We did not buy the meal plan due to the cost and because you were relegated to using the restaurant in the Westmark hotels (HAL).  We wanted the ability to sample different eating spots in each of the towns.  HAL does own the Westmark hotels in both Whitehorse and Dawson.  There are enough restaurants in each of those towns to find something that meets your needs. We talked to a couple people in our touring group who did buy the meal package who said the vouchers worked fine and they were satisfied with the plan but missed the ability to sample other eateries in each town.

I am not sure if the current plan is any different than the plan that was available back in 2016. 

We have done Las Caletas a number of times but only from our stays in our condo while in Puerto Vallarta.  This tour is contracted thru Vallarta Adventures.  We have done quite a number of tours thru this company and we have always had a great time.  The tours were excellent and the staff top notch.  We just did the "Rhythms of The Night" show in Dec. thru Vallarta Adventures and really enjoyed it also.  The service was just as good as our previous visits to Las Caletas.  Not sure if this show is offered on your cruise.

Here is a link to the tour off the Vallarta Adventures website.

https://www.vallarta-adventures.com/en/tour/caletas-beach-hideaway

Las Caletas is only accessed via boat and it is on the coast south of Puerto Vallarta rather than an island. The site has beach chairs, many activities, a good lunch, complementary drinks and it does mix cruise passengers with others but you won't feel crowded.  It takes about a 45 min boat ride to the site and you board the catamaran right there in the cruise ship harbor.  You have both sunny areas and shaded, very relaxing.  These photos are a few years old but can give you get an idea of the location.

Here are photos on the Rotterdam on April 27, 2017 in the Crows Nest.  Nice party, well attended.

I like Orange also, nice color.

The change occurred midnight Nov. 26th.  We were looking at a cruise that evening around 8-9pm PST when the big box TA and HAL were closed.  At that point it was showing an OBC for the cruise on-line.  The next day, Nov 27th, we called the TA and were informed that the OBC was now a "Shop Card" to be used at the warehouse after the cruise. The amount of the "Shop Card" was the same amount as the OBC listed on-line the night before.  I informed the TA on the phone that we were very disappointed in that move.  She informed us that it was negotiated with HAL and HAL was no longer willing to allow those nice OBCs we have received in the past.  I thought the OBC was something coming from the big box TA but was informed that HAL had a big voice in this change.  I have no idea if this is true/correct but confused me on who actually pays the OBC.  We will have to review this "Shop Card" benefit if we book any future cruises thru them. 

To add to this towel animal conversation, on our South Pacific cruise on the Maasdam this year we had an explosion of towel animals by the Lido Pool area.  It was pretty cool.

On 7/15/2019 at 5:33 PM, AryMay said:

 

We switched over to T-Mobile from Sprint about a year and a half ago and couldn't be more satisfied. Coverage in the U.S. has increased a great deal and in our area is great.

 

We have had T-Mobile service for several cruises now and whenever we reach a port we turn our phone off of airplane mode and immediately get a text message from T-Mobile saying "Welcome to ----------- (fill in the blank with whatever country). You have unlimited data and texting." Voice calls from other countries are also reasonable (~ .25/minute). Service in Mexico and Canada is no different than in the U.S. (unlimited calls, texting & data.)

 

We are on the senior plan (over age 55) and although the price has gone up slightly we were grandfathered in on the original price...$60 (including ALL taxes and fees) for two lines. Here is a screen shot of the benefits of this plan:

 

I don't need to be connected 24/7 when we cruise, but I do appreciate being able to check in with family when we reach a port.

We had flip phones up to Feb. 2018 that would no longer be useful in Puerto Vallarta Mexico where we go each year.  So we were pulled "kicking & screaming" into the smart phone market.  So after researching all the carriers we did the same thing, selected T-Mobile to change to.  But we missed the $60/mth for 2 lines by 1 1/2 weeks....darn!!!  So we pay $70/mth with autopay on the acct.  We've been very happy with T-Mobile and use it nearly the same as you with the same results.  We use voice very infrequently but when needed, worked well on a couple ports in Europe last year by calling private excursion companies.  On our last cruise in the South Pacific we had a couple islands were we did not have coverage, but no big deal since we got coverage on a future island. We also turn the phone to Airplane Mode as we leave the dock and have had no extra charges accessed to our account. This way we can also use the HAL Navigator app.  T-Mobile's coverage map has improved over the last 3-4 years which was one of our concerns in leaving Verizon.  Have had no problems on coverage with T-Mobile

Looks like escargot on the menu is inconsistent at best.  On our 41 day cruise March 28th 2019 in the South Pacific on the Maasdam from Brisbane to San Francisco, escargot was not offered on any menu in the MDR during the full cruise.  We knew of a passenger who asked if they could get escargot served.  They were told escargot was not available on the cruise.  One night when there was nothing appetizing for the first course we asked for shrimp cocktail as a substitute and were informed they were also not available????? 

On 6/4/2019 at 1:17 PM, BlackJack2 said:

We are thinking about booking a HAL Alaska Land and Sea Journey.  I did a search on Cruise Critic, but nothing came up.  Is there an old thread that gives advice or tips on these tours?  Or, does anyone have any comments or information about a HAL cruise and land trip?  We were looking at the Yukon & Triple Denali on the Nieuw Amsterdam this summer.  

We had the same problems with lack of info on HAL Land-Sea cruises on this CC board.  So, after we did a 14 day land-sea cruise we posted a detailed review with photos.  Here is the link from 2016.

There are at least 26 or more Land-Sea cruises.  I think what the tour you are looking at maybe like the one we took.  Based on your comments doing 3 days in Denali which is GOOD.    

Take a look at the review and if you have questions post them here as I will keep looking at this thread.

Rick

43 minutes ago, Cruisin Kay D said:

What did the frig cost to have in your cabin?  Great idea to get it!!   Where did you put it -- under the desk?  

THANKS SO MUCH  for the information, RuthC (see you on board 6/18) and Rajkr74.

 

Rajkr74:   Do you have any comment or suggestions about the ports, excursions, weather, clothing, etc.?   

When did ship hold Trivia?  And was Happy Hour 4-5.....heard it was in both Crow's Nest & Ocean Bar?    

We were in an Ocean View cabin and the frig went right under the desk.  It fit just fine there and caused no problems.

It cost $2.00/day and worked very well in keeping drinks cold.  Trivia was held at differrent times from 3:30 to 4:30pm each day in the Crows Nest and 7:00pm in the Mix. Check the Where and When daily program for actual times.  Happy Hour started at 4:00 in the Crows Nest and the Ocean Bar,  first drink full price, 2nd drink for $2.00.  Another Happy Hour was in the Crows Nest at 9:00pm.

Our cruise was from Brisbane to San Fran. so any suggestions for ports and tours don't match your Alaska cruise, sorry.  Also realize the Maasdam is an EXC cruise ship.  There are no singers and dancers on board now.  There are some great on board Lectuers along with local people bringing the local fare to lectures.  There are now zodiacs on board for small tours.  We did not take any so can't give a peronal review however some friends did some zodiac tours and had a good time.  HAL is also doing programs on photography with some good lectures also.  A number of cruisers on our cruise were no aware of the EXC format at the time they booked and were surprised when they got on board with the changes.  We enjoyed it but did miss the singers and dancers. Here is a link to HALs writeup of the EXC program.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/news/2018-press-releases/news-20180215-holland-america-line-launch-new-exc-in-depth-voyages-feature-zodiac-excursions-up-close-discovery.html

Also, I think the biologist lecturer by the name of Gloeta Massie will still be on board, don't miss her talks.  She is really good and funny. 

1 hour ago, Cruisin Kay D said:

We have often found that the US & European outlets are so close next to each other, such that it is hard to use both at same time....you think that might be the case on Maasdam??

We just got off the Maasdam on May the 7th and Ruth is correct, there are only two outlets, one 110 and one 220 outlet at the desk.  We ordered a frig for the ocean view cabin and it came with a power strip which plugged into the 110 outlet.  So it provided extra spaces to plugin our many electrical items we take on the cruise.  We also had a 220 adapter for the other outlet. You can put a multi-plug in the 220 outlet, with the adapter. Make sure the multi-plug is vertical versus a horizontal one.  There are NO outlets on the head boards, only the newer ships have outlet at the head boards.  Your room stewards can provide a power strip and extension cord for you.  Make that request as soon as you get on board.  We had no problem using both plugs at the same time.

We took a HAL land-sea cruise in 2016 going thru the Yukon from Vancouver to Anchorage.  We went from Denali to Anchorage on the train (opposite of the way you are going) and just took "day" packs on the train with all of our luggage loaded on the train and delivered to the hotel in Anchorage.  We did not have any restrictions on what suitcases we could take on the train or the whole 14 day land-sea cruise.  Maybe things have changed since we went????

Here is a link to the review, with photos, that we did after we took the cruise.  We found very little info on Land-Sea cruises prior to our cruise that we did the review to help others on any of their Land-Sea cruises. I'm thinking a lot of what we did is still being done by HAL.  Hope it helps.

Hi Joel,

Outstanding video of the 24 day cruise we were on with you.  Good memories of a great cruise.  I've got this video bookmarked since there are a couple of shots with joyce and I in the video.  It was a pleasure to met you and Pat since we have seen some of your previous videos.  Hope to run into you in the future.

Rick & joyce