Al Aboard

6 hours ago, Suzanne123 said:

Just received this notification for the 14 day Feb 13th sailing of Rotterdam.  

 

IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION:
Please be advised that all guests on this voyage (including children) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide proof at the terminal prior to boarding the cruise. It must show that your final dose of an approved vaccine was received at least 14 days prior to embarkation.
Guests must also provide a negative viral COVID-19 test (medically observed PCR or antigen test) taken within 2 days of embark. Testing at the terminal is very limited and you will not be able to cruise without proof of a negative test.
Guests are also required to wear face masks in elevators, entertainment venues, retail shops, the casino, prior to being seated in all dining venues, during embark and debark and in other designated areas except while eating & drinking.
Please review all of our enhanced COVID-19 health Measures as outlined on our website at https://hollandamerica.com/travelwell.

 

I have BtBs in January, on Rotterdam but didn’t receive the mask advisory for those trips.

I too am on the 14-day Feb 13th sailing and received this e-mail today.  You mentioned that you are also on a B2B in January.  Have you heard anything of requirements to get a negative test before the second sailing?  Even though we booked as a single 14-day booking the Feb. sailing is technically a B2B.  If these rules are still in effect in January can you post if this was an issue and how it was handled?  I am thinking of bringing an Abbott Binaxnow test along to possibly do the day before the turnaround as a backup.

As an aside, I see you are from Mechanicsburg, PA.  My wife spent 5 years in Bressler as a child.

I have had the same experience as Silverback969.  After our original booking was made early this year, I have called and left voice mails as well as sent e-mails to get some questions answered.  I have yet to get a return call.  To one of my e-mails I received an e-mail response that said she would call me next Wednesday or Thursday - but it never happened.  I called the general number and asked to be reassigned but the person who answered (not a supervisor) told me she had been away for a while and was back now so give her another chance.  Needless to say, no call backs yet.  Since my cruise is not until next year I am being patient (don't want to get someone in trouble), but it is getting old.

Our previous PCC was let go back during the Covid layoffs and we were never notified.  In fact, I had left him voice mail messages and e-mails but didn't find out he was gone until I just talked to whoever answered who informed me he was no longer there.  The PCC idea is a nice concept but may need some better policing. 

59 minutes ago, HappyCamper49 said:

We are taking our first HAL cruise on the new Rotterdam in April, 2022. My husband usually wears long sleeve, button down shirts in the MDR.  Are nice polo shirts acceptable in HAL's MDRs?  Sorry to appear so silly, but we do not want to stick out like sore thumbs!

Except on formal nights, all I ever wear are polo shirts - and that seems to be the most common attire I see.  I do wear a suit on formal (now called gala) nights.

I believe the unlimited laundry is $7 per day if bought in advance and $9 if bought onboard (although you can use OBC if bought onboard).  The service is excellent - everything comes back on hangers or nicely folded.  You have to fill out the laundry sheet with each bag you send listing all that is inside.  They put a skinny little  label on the collar/waistband of everything sent down which you want to look for on return and remove - else it starts scratching your skin.  They also warn you not to use it on the last couple of days of your cruise so the turnaround time works for them - so you don't really get to use it each day.  I have never lost anything sent down and it sure helps in packing lighter, especially on longer sailings.  We always left the bag on the bed after we changed for dinner each night.

Thanks.  I was hoping that would be the case.  Didn't realize therewas a private island board.

Just making plans for a future Caribbean cruise.  We are stopping at Half Moon Cay, which I have been to before but only used the beach.  I see there is a lobster lunch available for a fee and am also aware the drink package is not honored on the island.  If you went to Lobster Shack, do you use your badge to charge it to your onboard account and use your OBC to pay for it or is cash/credit card required?  Same for any drinks purchased?

After reading Steelers36 post above, I updated the app and was able to make 1st seating traditional dining for the entire cruise with my father-in-law as a travel companion.  It did not delete what was already in place, so I went in an deleted these entries.  The only odd part is when I look at the app with my sign-on it shows everything and everybody listed for each day.  If I sign on as my father-in-law it shows him and 2 others but we are not named.  My wife shows the 2 of us and 1 other but doesn't list my father-in-law's name.  At this point, I think we are good.  I will call in some time and verify all our bookings are linked in case we sign up for shore excursions or something so we don't get separated.

I agree with Steelers36 that they should have kept functionality in the current cruise personalizer and I would add also with the phone agents.

My wife and I made a booking for 14 day cruise in January 2023 for ourselves and my father-in-law traveling solo (age 90) including 1st seating traditional.  I thought we had everything completed except payments.  Friday we decided to add the prior 10 day cruise to make it B2B.  When I called and booked the additional cruise I was told I had to use the app to get the dining option.  That's when I first heard of this.  I asked about the previous booking and was told it was moved automatically.  I asked if she could tell me if it moved OK and she told me she couldn't see it.

I finally got the app reloaded on my phone and went to request the dining option to be told nothing was available.  I checked the calendar to see what was in place on the previously booked cruise and saw my wife and I have a table for 2 in the Palm dining room and my father-in-law is on a table for 4 in the Island dining room.

Not happy.  I know somehow it will work out but don't see why I have to go through who knows how much additional work just to get dining options straightened out.  Even though I know there is more than enough time, I would rather have it done and not worry about waiting too long and finding 1st seating TD is suddenly full.

I was going to write to my PCC and ask about it when I saw this 2 days ago.  My booking was supposed to have the complimentary dining but not the shore excursions so this confused me.  I asked DW to proofread my email and she remarked that there is a zero in front of the shore excursions so it does match up to our booking.  I think these are just links for booking the dining or shore excursions if available - if you click on the underlined Dining or Shore Excursions it will take you to the corresponding booking page.

Our group was on the Nieuw Statendam in cabins 1124 and 1128.  Perfectly quiet.

I know we walked to the front one evening and when we got further forward the noise in the hallway was extreme - especially as we neared the forward stairwell.  It is not only BB Kings but the Rolling Stones room.  It didn't reach back to our cabins though - even in the hall outside.

I would also like to see the addition of a simple piano player/piano bar to the entertainment choices in the evening.  The Ocean Bar has a piano but no player or the Crow's Nest is available in the evenings to add such a venue.  Sometimes you just want to sit down with a drink and talk with a little background music which the Music Walk entertainment does not lend itself to.

I'm booked on the Rotterdam for February 2022 and requested my credit a couple of months ago.  They applied it the same day.

I personally would only be comfortable with a fully vaccinated cruise.  Based on what the medical experts say, even if I or others would still catch Covid it will not be bad and would not require hospitalization.  I would interpret this as meaning a ship should be able to handle this with their own medical staff and quarantining of any one who may come down with it to their cabins.

The problem with models is they are not one shoe fits all.  I would be comfortable with the Euro model mentioned above if I was in Europe, but my next cruise is in the Caribbean.  I would not be comfortable being offloaded to a Caribbean facility over remaining quarantined and under the care of the ships medical personnel - assuming my condition had not deteriorated beyond what they could handle.

2 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Here’s a quote from a recent Arnold Donald interview on vaccinations.

 

“The company probably won't require vaccinations against COVID-19 as a general prerequisite for boarding, he said, but may make the jab mandatory for those cruises favored by seniors.”

 

https://www.fool.com/investing/2021/03/15/carnival-ceo-sees-2-troubled-years-coming-for-crui/?source=eptyholnk0000202&utm_source=yahoo-host&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=article&yptr=yahoo
 

 

 

Interesting quote.  I wonder if this translates to "required on Holland America but not on Carnival".

Yes, assuming this would replace the current proposed guidelines for mask wearing, social distancing, etc. on the ships - those that involve what I can do and how I can do it onboard.  Daily temperature checks, limiting the number of people onboard, having the crew dish out food at the buffet and those sort of things are fine.  As far as the ports, this would be up to the individual local governments to decide and I can just adjust for each port.  My next scheduled cruise is February 2022 in the Caribbean and I have been to all these ports multiple times, so in my case an island being dropped or limited is not a big deal.  Thursday will be 2 weeks since DW and my second Pfizer shot.

20 hours ago, Mary229 said:

That article says 1300 passengers.  If HAL only allows double capacity in staterooms and perhaps vacates a few rooms they should be able to sail there.  So I am curious which ships are advertised for the Key West port, anyone know?

For the 2021-2022 Caribbean offerings: Volendam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Eurodam, Nieuw Statendam and Rotterdam VI are all scheduled to stop there.  All of these ships have a listed capacity greater than 1300 (Volendam is listed at 1432 and is the smallest).  Not sure how the law would apply if the ship is sailing at a reduced capacity since I believe part of the attempt was to limit the size of ships.  I've been hearing ship capacity - not how many are actually aboard.

I personally hope Holland America and the other cruise lines institute this as a policy as long as the disease is around.  I assume that the vaccine requirement will replace the need to follow the current guidelines of mask wearing, social distancing , etc. while on the ship so that the cruise itself is more like what we have been used to.  I would also expect the cruise lines to have their entire staffs vaccinated as well.

I realize that the current vaccines are not 100% effective (although they are highly effective), but even if someone on the ship comes down with the virus this requirement should avoid the need for a full ship quarantine.

We were able to make our final cruise payments with the gift cards.  However, when we attempted to use a gift card to prepay gratuities it was not permitted - these were the purchased gift cards, not the bonus ones.  We were told by an agent at HAL that we could add them to our account after we board and then it could be used for gratuities.

If HAL (or any cruise line) required a cruise line sponsored excursion as the only way to disembark at a port, I would hope they would schedule activities and entertainment onboard as if it were a sea day - as well as open the MDR for lunch, etc.  I assume that the shops and casino would have to be closed during the stop even with this restriction in place.  I expect a large percentage, if not majority, of the passengers would opt to stay onboard over the excursion route.  There may not even be enough slots available to handle a high percentage of the passengers.

Here is a thread with pictures of Allure balconies with partition opened:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1840798-balcony-dividers-connecting-ocean-views-on-allure/

Note that the partition is not completely removed but the door in the partition is open to allow passage between them.

6 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

I'm mid 40s and I do NOT want to see HAL step up to just below luxury status like the majority of the poll seems to be trending.  For the most part, I like HAL the way it is.  My biggest gripe is the lack of entertainment variety.  I voted to add entertainment. A solo guitarist or solo piano player, to provide toned-down entertainment where you can still have quiet conversation with your cruise mates, would go a long way with me.  I think eliminating this sort of entertainment was HAL's biggest mistake.

I am not in the right age group for the poll, but I totally agree with your sentiment.

My last couple of HAL cruises were on the Nieuw Statendam and the Koningsdam.  Evening entertainment based around the music walk had the Rolling Stones room rotating with Billboard or through the doors you had BB Kings.  You can then go down the corridor further to the Ocean Bar where you can sit with a drink and friends and look at the baby grand piano that was never played - or go to the Crow's Nest which had no entertainment.  No problem with the entertainment they were performing but why not have someone playing some light music on the piano (don't need an entertainer - just some softer music to listen to) and/or add some softer music to the Crow's Nest or elsewhere on the ship.  It doesn't have to be all one way or the other - some nights I am in the mood for different activities/entertainment.

I realize Lincoln Center is included in their entertainment, but the schedule for them is not in the evenings on these ships so I didn't include them here.

1 hour ago, KirkNC said:

Yes Oslo is strictly a service stop, no passengers will get off.

Mein Schiff 2 is registered in Malta.  Does Germany have the same rules about visiting another country that we have?  It seems that a service stop on a 3-4 day cruise wouldn't be needed.

I read this article on CC a few days back:   https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/5482/

I liked the new process.  It is patented but any cruise line can license the method for free.  Curious how many feel this would be a better procedure and if CCL should license it.  Apparently NCL already has. 

15 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

Thanks for the first hand information. Mum is a light sleeper so I was concerned. I am taking your advice and grabbing this cabin. Every little bit of space helps, especially in an inside cabin!

Found this video my wife took of the cabin.  Location was excellent - near stairs and elevators.

I was in cabin 1128 on the Nieuw Statendam in 2019.  There was no noise at all.  We enjoyed the cabin as it was a little more square shaped than most interior cabins and seemed bigger because of it.

One evening we walked forward on deck 1 and as we got near/under the Rolling Stones room the noise was unbelievable - but it didn't reach those cabins.