skurvish

12 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

As an alternative we are considering a cruise around Japan.  

A group of us did both 2-week cruises around Japan last year. Southern Japan and then Northern Japan. This was mid-March to late April. Not too busy in the ports and a great time for seeing the Cherry Blossoms. We followed those two with the connecting trans-pacific back to Seattle. We all enjoyed it very much.

15 hours ago, Vict0riann said:

Strangely enough, I can't get your link above to work - and I used to find it on the HAL site at the bottom of the home page under "Cruise Deals", but it is no longer there.  I wonder what's going on...

The HAL website geolocates you so from Canada you will only get the Canadian version of the site which does not include the AARP deal as AARP is US based. The first time I went through this I had to use a VPN connected to a US based server in order to see the US version of the HAL website.

Having said that, the link to do the confirmation is not geolocated and you can go directly to it here: https://offers.sheerid.com/holland-america/member/

If you are before final payment and there are still cabins available in your category, you can have your TA cancel and rebook (after waiting the 3-4 days from verification). Note, make sure you do not lose any current perks. The rebooking may or may not be worth it.

It does not.

Also, remember, if you cancel and do not have cancel for any reason protection, you may not be eligible for a refund. If Princess cancels you have much more options.

You can disable the sleep time on your firestick completely which will fix yourHDMI connection issue: 

26 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

What happens if one asks for "more of <whatever> please"?

Or even a double-sized portion if you know (from before, or seeing other plates?) you'd be wanting more?

GC

I have had no problem in the MDR asking for a larger, double or even a half size. At least in the MDR they are quite accommodating.

We have had a small number (3-4) of overcharges so far in 5 weeks. Quick message to Guest Services in the app had it corrected quickly. As of last night the ship is once again out of Clive Red Zinfandel. It was out of it for the second week of the Southern Japan leg, and a few days into the Northern Japan leg. They restocked in Busan South Korea. 2 weeks later they are out of stock again.

At the PG last night 3 people ordered the seared scallops (having ordered them previously). On the previous order they were quite large but topped with inedible roe of some sort. Last night all 3 ordered without the roe and the scallops that came were 1/4 trhe size of the previous time. Needless to say 3 unhappy ladies.

In fact the PG experience last night was terrible. This is the 5th time over 5 weeks and all previous experiences were great. Last night was extremely slow. We had to flag down the waiter to get water, flag down again to get bread, flag down again to place wine orders that were missed the first time. Took forever to clear plates.

I suspect this is a result of a large number of staff off sick. 1 week into masks optional and the coughing and hacking has risen dramatically. For me and my group, we still mask outside of our cabin except when eating and drinking. And we never share tables except with each other. So far over 5 weeks narry a sniffle.

Just our experience so far.

9 hours ago, syesmar said:

@skurvish so are you saying if someone’s shore excursion credit wasn’t fully used for excursions, HAL will automatically apply it to any port shuttles used during the cruise? Thanks!

yes.

A few pieces of info I discovered about the shore excursion credit. It can be used (and will automatically be used if available) for port shuttles. It cannot be used for port to airport transfers, unless the transfer includes an excursion.

I am in a vista suite and there are both USB and US stye power plugs on both sides of the bed. I also use a CPAP so it is very easy to connect.

To follow up on 2 points, the Covid test requirements for HAL can be a self administered antigen test so if you fail just borrow someone else's. I too am on the same sailing at Hank above. We started a new 14 day segment last Monday and the makeup of the passengers has changed significantly. It feels that we have significantly more Americans than the previous 2 weeks. It also seems that a lot more passengers are being lax. I am not suggesting a correlation, just an observation.

We are on the same cruise as Hank. We are a group of 16. So far none of us have been overcharged for drinks. As a group we don't need to wait long for a dinner table in the MDR. Getting tables for 6 or 8 or even 10 does not seem to be a problem. I can confirm however that getting table space in the Lido is a struggle, even for 2.

Found it here: https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/articles.cfm?ID=1614&stay=1&posfrom=1

Side question, I understand that HAL offers a discounted daily rate for unlimited laundry on cruises of 30+ days. Does anyone know if 3x14day b2b2bs (42 days total) would meet this requirement? All 3 are on separate bookings but same names and same cabin.

Thanks,

Check your online checkin through the HAL website, It will advise the date and time you can submit your results. Verify has the same info.

I am on an upcoming HAL cruise to Japan. The testing requirements is a HAL requirement in an effort to keep the total number of infected passengers and crew below 10% (not exactly sure of the % but in this area) as Japan will deny a ship to dock if it meets or exceeds this threshold.

HAL does however allow you to take a self administered antigen test. See the health protocols for details,

https://www.k-eta.go.kr/portal/apply/index.do

HAL has not updated the protocols by voyage on this on their Lookup Health Protocols by voyage page.

17 hours ago, ringers0815 said:

I did not use the visa service, I downloaded the app and applied for the ETA on my own. Fairly easy (once I had figured out the port address) and got the approved ETA about 40 min after submitting my application.

Same here. I used the web version. My thinking is that for about $10 I have peace of mind. If the cruise ship does indeed obtained one for me I have lost $10, if they don't I am not standing in a long line at the pier trying to buy one.

Probably 95% of the passengers on these cruises to not use CC and therefore would not know of this issue. If the cruise lines are not notifying us of a visa requirement then they must be dealing with it on our behalf. If this was actually happening and 95% of the pax were denied entry it would be all over the news and social media. This is not the cruise lines first rodeo. 

3 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Thanks for the update. Do you have a website for where you purchased the Vietnam visa? I've looked online and it seems like there are a lot of websites offering to sell them, and I can't be sure which is the "official" site.

This is the officlal website: Vietnam evisa - National portal on Immigration

Takes about 3 business days.

Very good to know, Thanks Bruce.

Apparently the process itself recommends printing the PR codes and bringing them in case you do not have internet access on your phones. So answered my own question.

Some of my group do not carry cell phones. Does anyone know if the QR codes can be printed and brought with the person for showing at the border. We are arriving into Narita.

Thanks.