Storylady

11 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

The lanes were there on November 7 for time spacing but that sign was not there or it was well hidden.  Someone else mentioned seeing that info on their cruise but if I remember correctly that was in fort Lauderdale.  I was not given any indication I could board whenever I felt like as a 5 star by hal.

My husband dropped off our luggage and saw no signs. We didn’t encounter a 5 star mariner line until we had gone through customs and security,  And that line was so short, I am not sure why they bothered. We still seemed to be in the same group of cruisers we had started with. The photo below shows the line finally inside the port at 2:40. And this is a double line.  We didn’t board actually get into our room until 3:30 PM. Our actual boarding time was 1:20 PM. So you can see why I am concerned about the signs!

On 12/23/2021 at 10:57 AM, Sam.Seattle said:

Boarding in San Diego today. 

I was able to drop off luggage early.  

We will return at our assigned boarding time. 

The back of the signs on the attached photographs have the 2:00pm and later times. 

Looks like they will just turn the signs around when the 1pm etc are done.

 

Cheers!

🍸

Interesting seeing those signs. If they were there on October 31st, we didn’t see them when we dropped off our luggage.

3 hours ago, DAllenTCY said:

There are at least 7 others doing the same transfer.  I presume that you will be tested on the Koningsdam as if you were doing B2B since you are going HAL to HAL.

 

If not, testing is available at the SD pier....and the fee may be waived.

David

We don’t arrive in SD until sometime after 12 PM. We are 5 Star Mariners. If the signs are still up when we arrive, can we enter the Suite line or do we have to wait for our actual boarding time?

6 hours ago, DAllenTCY said:

Today at least 1,000 guests got to try out those staging lines that one of you wondered about.

 

1:00, 1:20 and 1:40 groups were into the terminal before their scheduled times.

 

I recall that the 2:00 group was a bit delayed.....first into the terminal at 2:08.  The next group which was for 2:20 did not start to flow in until 2:35 pm.

 

The last ones to enter the pier had 2:40 pm arrival times, and were all onboard by 3:20 pm.

 

Because so many testing places were closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we had around 250 guests tested at the pier.  You do not need a reservation; however, it is strongly suggested.

 

The Koningsdam sailed away just a few minutes after 4 pm.

 

David

Thanks David for all your helpful information. I am looking forward to a more normal boarding on the 2nd. Although, I suspect there will be testing again due to the holiday.

@Sam.SeattleMy info on people being turned away happened on October 31st when we waited in a long line to board. People were actually told to return at their boarding time. 
 

Keep in mind they didn’t  have  boarding time lines then. It was just one big, enormous line.  I suspect it has been improved due to comments made on surveys. Plus, we were hampered by the Disney Wonder not clearing their ship until 11:30. Nobody on either ship could board until zero count was reached. 
 

Glad you had it so easy. Hope they have the same signs when we are suppose to board on Sunday.
 

On 12/24/2021 at 10:23 AM, Sam.Seattle said:

After speaking to several different passengers, It appears anybody could board anytime they wanted. Not really sure why Holland bothered to put up the signs.

Not true, people were turned away after 1PM. I suspect those you are mentioning boarded before 1PM.

On 12/23/2021 at 10:57 AM, Sam.Seattle said:

Boarding in San Diego today. 

I was able to drop off luggage early.  

We will return at our assigned boarding time. 

The back of the signs on the attached photographs have the 2:00pm and later times. 

Looks like they will just turn the signs around when the 1pm etc are done.

 

Cheers!

🍸

Thanks for posting, Hope this is what happens when we board. We didn’t see a Presidents, 4&5 Star mariners plus suite line on Oct 31st until we passed through passport control. And then it was extremely short. This would help us out greatly as we arrive early since the next train we can take arrives after 3 PM which is cutting it very close,

4 hours ago, Lovecruisestoo said:

For anyone just returning from a Holland America cruise what were all the procedures regarding Covid?   How many times were you tested?  And what happened to those who tested positive?   And now with the requirement to have a negative test to return to the U.S.  do they provide tests/paperwork on board?   

We were in a B2B and were tested onboard to, but I understand that be changed to be testing at the pier. Only tested once, unless you were in an international flight or on more B2B’s. Staff really cleaned the tables with disinfectant before seating the next guest. Also, heavy duty cleaning of stairwells and bathrooms. Actually felt safer than grocery store or restaurants.

On 12/18/2021 at 11:48 AM, aledomom said:

 

We are on the Noordam May 22, 2022 for a 7-Day Glacier Discovery Southbound.  Any way to predict which nights will be formal nights?  We are trying to plan some specialty dining reservations.

Thanks!

If you have the Navigator downloaded, it will tell you which days.

We arrived late for our boarding time. Definitely not on purpose. We traveled to SD by train and the milk run train broke down (coaster) so we arrived late due to picking up coaster passengers. It seemed like every one else arrived at the same time as it was an extremely long line. But as @ DAllenTCY has explained we had the Disney Wonder in port, no one could board until both cruise ships had zero count. Plus Disney Wonder was doing Covid testing. Friends took an hour to board and we took 1.5 hours to board. As annoying as it was, it was great to be back sailing. And it is definitely a tale to tell. Same boarding experience in Vancouver due to an NCL ship. These things happen and we didn’t see anyone unhappy. We were told of people who arrived before their boarding time and were turned away. I suspect if there is a small group, they won’t enforce the rules, but if the line is long, passengers will be made to wait until it is their turn.

8 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

There problem is that so many don’t care and just show up whenever.  If hal doesn’t want to enforce it they should do away with it.

They certainly enforced it when we boarded in SD. They definitely turned people away. Probably not the real early birds, but those who had times after the boarding process had began. We were told everyone showed up at the same time. Also, someone who worked for the SD port mentioned that our boarding was delayed due to passengers not disembarking when they were suppose to from the Disney Wonder. They didn’t get off until 11:30 AM.

All ships in port have have to be cleared of passengers before anyone can embark the ship. I remember one fiasco in Vancouver when an NCL ship wasn’t properly cleared. US Customs shut the embarkation down. The line was so long that it was worse than a line at Disneyland. Eventually, it ended out of the terminal and down the street to the convention center. All the Vancouver TV stations were there to film the mess.

14 hours ago, dawei said:

Rotterdam's 7-day on Jan. 16 had Aruba, Curacao and Half Moon on the itinerary. Yesterday, HAL announced that Aruba is scratched due to port availability.  So, Plan B is to do an overnight in Curacao. 

It seems to us that this is a cruise about to be cancelled, since it's difficult to imagine Curacao not closing down as well.

 

David

Curaçao can handle 6 ships. So we should be okay. Still not sure why Rotterdam was moved to Curacao as we would be in port with three other ships. Unless, the want to move Eurodam to our spot. On the 19th, there are 4 other ships in Aruba with the Eurodam.
 

19 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

It does open up earlier in Fort Lauderdale from the sound of it.

You are correct. Check-in is at 12:00 for group A. I just checked a future boarding. I suspect just like in San Diego, some people arriving early might be allowed. 

On 12/15/2021 at 8:08 PM, Bookited said:

Have been to Puerto Vallarta multiple times and San Sebastion is still my favorite!

We loved it also, but the cobblestone streets annoyed some of our group. I loved the history about the place and precautions that they had to take to get the silver out of the town without having it stolen.

6 hours ago, foodsvcmgr said:

With no masking on NCL and Celebrity why would an anti-masker insist on booking HAL?

We would rather be on a HAL ship with masks than the NCL that had  17 passengers comedown with COVID.

3 hours ago, LadyBerard said:

I have not cruised on Holland for quite a number of years.  When/How do you receive your boarding time?  We cruise in March on the Rotterdam.  I have completed our check-in.  I didn't see anything regarding boarding time on there.  Forgive my ignorance in this matter.  Last time we cruised Holland was on the Noordam out of NY many moons ago.  I do not recall them having boarding times.  I'm assuming that all this is new due to covid and Holland trying to cut down on masses of people showing up at 11:30 a.m. or so to get that all important first lunch.  😉

Open you boarding pass as if to print. And you will see the time. Actually, boarding doesn’t start until 1:20 PM with group A. And I am not sure it actually HAL staff.

17 hours ago, SFO PETER said:

I would think if you ask for Rapid Antigen and printed results they can give it on board your disembarking ship.  You could use your results to satisfy the next ship test requirements.

Canadians and other non US residents get tested and printed results before they fly home.

 

Peter

 

 

That is what I thought at first. But it isn’t quite that easy. They need to know how many people are going to be tested. From your booking they can tell if you are international or B2B. But we are changing ships the same day, when you depart a HAL cruise you aren’t given the test unless you are on an international flight. Thus, the need to have HAL to arrange to test us. Our TA had HAL link our cruises. Don’t know if HAL does that automatically or not. Thus, the reason for the call.

6 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

We are considering adding a second cruise to our upcoming March one, but this one would be on a different ship (same day though).  How could we do this and still meet the Covid testing requirements?

We are doing the same. My TA spend quite a bit of time on the phone to HAL. I was told that HAL is now considering those B2B cruise. What I was told to do was contact the front desk when onboard immediately and let them know that I need the COVID test. They should see that our cruises are linked. You might have your TA do the same.
 

I started to panic when I discovered HAL was no longer doing testing on B2B’s on the ship, but at the port in Florida. My backup plan is that I will take a taxi to get the COVID test if necessary. But the expense for the test plus taxi isn’t going to be cheap.

We are doing this on Jan 16th from Zuiderdam to Rotterdam.

What you really want to upgrade to is a Signature Suite or a Neptune Suite.  Neptune is 330 sq ft., Signature is 295 sq ft., Vista is 210 sq feet and the balcony is 180 sq ft. If you looking for a large balcony, the corner aft Neptune suites are huge.

30 minutes ago, Roz said:

I'm stressing over this for my March cruise.  I already cancelled my December river cruise that was supposed to depart Amsterdam on Dec. 6.  I wasn't confident I could meet their testing requirements and other Covid restrictions and hoops to jump thru.

 

Covid tests are very difficult to get in Middle TN even for those who are sick.  I can get a PCR test at Walgreen's and CVS but it may be a 72-hr. turnaround time which is not going to work.  They don't offer the quick antigen test.  For the home tests, how do you get your results in a form that will be accepted by the cruise line?

 

The more I read and research, the more confused I get.  

Find a testing facility in your cruise port, make a reservation and go a couple of days before the cruise to take the test. Check your arrival airport to see if they do tests and your departure airport.

1 minute ago, DAllenTCY said:

That must have been on Halloween.

 

There have been no issues in the past 5 sailings.....with boarding within 20-25 minutes or so.

 

That day was when the Disney Wonder shared the pier.  She had just completed a 2-night cruise and not many were eager to disembark on time.  If I recall, the last guest cleared US Customs at about 11:30 am.

 

 

David

It was October 31st cruise. Normally, we arrive early, 11:30 AM. But Amtrak cancelled our early train. Plus, the coaster broke down so we had to stop at all the stations. I honestly this this was our worst boarding experience in all our years of cruising. I don’t remember the passport checking being done in the terminal. It was done by one guy at the gate. With 4-5 Passort Control agents, it seemed to go even slower.

On 12/4/2021 at 5:18 PM, Ferry_Watcher said:

Same is true in Seattle.  Different cruise lines handle arrival times in different ways.  Carnival is more strict about arrival times (and super strict about boarding groups).  Holland America, Princess, Celebrity, and Royal are more relaxed about dealing with passengers who show up early.  Basically, if it is slow, any passenger who arrives is welcomed in to start the embarkation process.  If everyone arrives at once, passengers will be let in according to their assigned arrival time.  

 

What has made a big difference this year (2021) with the embarkation process has been the introduction of the express check-in systems adopted across all the the cruise lines.  During the lost cruising year (2020), all the brands upgraded their check-in systems, and it's made a huge difference.  So as long as the passenger completely registered all needed information online, embarking is as quick as a swipe of their passport using a handheld device (after the vaccine and health check).

 

The other improvement was having the ships ready for passengers to embark as soon as they have been checked in, rather than having to congregate in large waiting areas in the terminal.  It did help this season that the ships were sailing under capacity. Passengers really enjoyed walking on to the ship right away.

 

Folks should be somewhat respectful of their arrival time, but shoreside staff will work to get passengers embarked as quickly and safely as possible,  while maintaining the social distancing protocols.  So if you have a 1 PM arrival time, please don't show up at 9 AM (it does happen).  And if you have a 2 PM arrival time, come a bit earlier, as 80% of the passengers are already onboard.

 

As someone who has check-in passengers, it easier to have a steady stream of passengers, rather than have to deal with 150 people who show up at their assigned 3 pm time for a 4 PM departure.  I understand that there are folks who will buck or game the arrival time assignment window, and brag about it. (It's annoying)  There are also passengers who arrive when they arrive due to flights or ground transportation, and want to start embarkation as soon as they arrive at the pier.  Sometimes it's easy, other times check-in can be overwhelming and a bit stressful for both passengers and shoreside staff.  But everyone gets on the ship, and the staff gets to go home and tell stories to family and friends.  In the end, it all works out.

 

 

 

 

We had all our documents printed. We even uploaded our photos. Unfortunately, it was extremely slow in boarding in SD. On our October 31st cruise, there were only 900 passengers onboard. Probably not 900 we’re boarding as there were quite a few B2B’s. Even so the line was out the port gate, down the street about a half a large city block. When we entered the port, we thought we would go directly into the terminal. But no, the line was alongside half the terminal. Then the line went back to the entrance. There was still a line zigzag line for checking passports and security. After that we joined an extremely short line for 4 & 5 Star Mariners and Suite guests. Our line then joined another line before doing the checking in. They insisted on taking another photo. And asking us the questions despite that we had filled out the health questionnaire. 
 

Our time was 1:20 PM group A that was changed to 1:40 PM, group C. We entered the long line 20 minutes late due to late arrival of our train into SD.

Our cruise was fantastic. The crew were fantastic. We had a great time. And were glad to be back at sea. So our annoyance with the boarding process disappeared once onboard. We didn’t feel we had much of an advantage being 5 Star mariners. Majority of the delay was passport check, not enough officers, going through security and size of SD terminal. Plus, everyone showing up at the same time.

On 12/2/2021 at 8:08 PM, twodjs said:

The groups are not rankings. You have not been "downgraded". Covid restrictions require controlled small groups of people. 4 and 5 star and Neptune Suites still get their express lines while the rest have the longer lines. Everyone is just spread out. 

It wasn’t much of an express in SD. Our line cut off some passengers, but then we still joined the regular line, Took us 1.5 hours to board. Our luggage beat us to the cabin.

2 hours ago, vwlmember said:

I was on the Nieuw Amsterdam last week. Although the mask wearing was inconvenient, it was not the hassle I thought it would be. On deck we were mask free and in many of the venues onboard while eating and drinking.  Both Aruba and Curacao allowed free range visiting on the islands with a few mask requirements for some places. The crew was outstanding. Constantly cleaning and trying to keep you happy. Other passengers were friendly and I did not see any confrontations over masks or anything else.  We all had a good time and there seemed to be no COVID related issues. The only disappointments I experienced were the lack of food options on the menus, the quality of the food was marginal at best (although Nami Sushi and Tamarind were spot on), and the ship is badly in need of refurbishment. Would I do it again?  Hell yes. The wife and I are booked on Celebrity Beyond next September for a Greek Island voyage for our 20th anniversary.  

 

Honestly, our trip to Disney World in May was very disappointing and has us seriously considering if we will go back any time soon despite being DVC members.

 

The results were exactly the opposite of what I expected when I booked both trips.

Use your DVC point for a cruise. Especially now is a good time.

13 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

We are ready to start cruising but are concerned half empty ships will mean penny pinching and service cutbacks, but it sounds like you guys loved it. Thanks for reassuring us.

We were on the. Koningsdam in November for California Coastal Cruise. First week was 900 passengers and second week was 1500 passengers. We had a great time and the masks weren’t a problem. And we were wearing KN95 masks, same as much of the crew. 
 

Obviously, we didn’t wear them while eating or drinking. You don’t have to wear them outside. So if you like to cruise, go for it.

More annoying than masks was the long boarding line in San Diego.