HALrunner

10 hours ago, Corby114 said:

My family and I are curious too. Also boarding in a few days. Tracking the ship and hopefully she will be heading to the Cayman Islands next. Nervous until our “Negative” Covid test on Friday morning. Hope to see everyone on board on Sunday. 

We are literally in the same boat;) The roll call is so tiny for our sailing and I have never seen so many available cabins just before sailing. We might have the ship to ourselves (if we all pass our covid tests!)

I just read on Bill & Mary Ann's thread that Grand Cayman was dropped from their current sailing. I really don't care where we go or don't go, I just want to go!

10 hours ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

Venture to the Caribbean with Bill & Mary Ann on the Nieuw Statendam & Nieuw Amsterdam 12-18-21 to 4-26-22

 

Read this thread further down. Bill and Mary Ann post every day with very detailed information.

Thank you! I just found it, a great resource! 

Thanks for such an entertaining and informative thread! We were on the Eurodam for three weeks while this thread was live and I completely missed it. I'll be on the NS soon and have been craving information to make my countdown go more quickly. This thread was just the fix!

Just wondering what the "word on the street" is regarding missed ports, covid cases onboard, etc? Oh, and other fun things we used to worry about.....who is the cruise director, captain, hotel manager, etc? We are hoping/planning to come onboard in a few days....

Thanks for sharing! I'm glad your symptoms are mild and you are remaining upbeat, despite this unexpected "experience" during your vacation.

8 minutes ago, nocl said:

 A ship will remain in that status for at least 14 days, even if there are not any other cases.

 This is really good to know, thank you!

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

To add fuel to the fire I just saw an article in UK's Guardian that says "CDC investigating 86 cruise ships with reported outbreaks"

 

Go figure.

 

Hank

I just counted 87 on the CDC website (plus another 4 they are monitoring)

According to the CDC, there are only 4 ships in service (not "crew only") currently in the green: one MSC, Celebrity Silhouette, Azamara Quest and "The World".  This is quite a change from even a week ago. 

I think it was one of the many cutbacks made with the convenient excuse of being more eco friendly. 

On 12/25/2021 at 7:43 AM, albingirl said:

Speaking of masks, I really like the HAL cloth ones.  We bought several extra when we were on board.  They are very comfortable and wash well.

I also really like the HAL masks. I didn't realize you could purchase them. Do you recall how much they cost?

Thanks for sharing this detailed report! We were on the Eurodam for the three weeks before this sailing. On December 15 a large number of MDR staff went home and were replaced by staff that had not been working since the pandemic began and just getting their feet wet again. Our MDR breakfast waiter on December 15 was very unfamiliar with the menu and slow. He was so cheerful and friendly it was easy for us to be patient and extend grace!

23 hours ago, Mickb said:

Wasn’t Eurodam  sailing in Greece for most of last summer/fall?

I believe the Eurodam resumed sailing in August in Greece. 

On 12/23/2021 at 3:20 PM, Deep68 said:

Just received a letter from the captain. Apparently the Mexican authorities would allow passengers on shore that were on Holland America tours and were tested. As the ship was advised of this restriction at the last minute logistically it was not possible to make this happen. 
We are to get port taxes refunded and a $50 ship board credit and of course refund of cancelled tours.  We are now at sea cruising rather slowly. It is a gorgeous calm day. 

I wonder if HAL will start testing guests the day before they take a HAL excursion. 

Not needed on 12/5 for disembarking Eurodam passengers in FLL (unless flying internationally). 

On the Eurodam, shakers only of white sugar and (brown) sugar in the raw. Other than that, I only saw red packets of artificial sweetener and it was from Greece (written in Greek).

It seems they are trying to go as paperless as possible…right down to nixing muffin wrappers and individual sugar packets.

2 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

 

 

Thanks for the info. That's the kind of situation that's hidden in the CDC's aggregate statistics. Currently, Eurodam is rated Orange by the CDC – being monitored.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Ftravelers%2Fcrew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html

 

The Eurodam's next departure is Nov 24^th?

 

I am reassured that orange means:

"Reported cases of COVID-19 are below the threshold for CDC investigation"

I am not vegetarian, but have loved all the vegetarian dishes in the MDR.

12 minutes ago, SFO PETER said:

===

Is Feb 19 the printed expiration date or the calculated three month from expiration date?

May be too much to ask but a pic is worth a thousand words.

 

Thanks again.

Peter

I'm glad you asked! I guessed the hourglass figure was the expiration date and then added three months, but let me know what you think. (see photo below)

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

If you don't mind looking, what is the expiration date on these recent kits?  I am hoping to get some that will also cover my March cruise.

The 6 pack I just ordered from Emed (sister site of Optum) expire Feb 19, 2022

35 minutes ago, Cajuntraveler said:

DH and I were put in quarantine for 24 hours during a August 2021 Alaska cruise.  I had Covid 19 symptoms but tested negative.  We had to stay in our cabin until we tested negative again 24 hours later.  We disembarked in SEA the morning after we were released from quarantine.

I contacted HAL when we returned to find out if we qualified for a FCC for our lost day even thou we tested negative for COVID.  They apologized for the "oversight" and credited our account with a FCC for the day we were quarantined.

Thanks for sharing your first hand experience! 

11 hours ago, RGEDad said:

 

**** Short Story

Before COVID- we were on a cruise, and our dinner tablemates wanted to cancel their excursion for the following day as she was not feeling 100% and was not really interested in the excursion in any case. Found they could only cancel (for free at that point) if the Dr said she could not go. They trudged off to the Medical center, and sure enough - they quarantined her for a day (or two) - and it cost them...considerably more in medical costs than the refunded excursion (and as I recall - they only refunded her excursion - not his. 

Perhaps a Covid silver lining is that many industries have become a little more sympathetic and encouraging of people to stay home/sit out activities when they aren't feeling well. Thanks for sharing!

I can't imagine traveling without a passport, let alone with all the new covid variables. So many "What if...." scenarios. 

Also, our partial transit closed loop HAL Panama Canal cruise documents note that a passport is required for one of our ports of call: Costa Rica. 

4 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

They provide one cloth one per person.  I change mine a lot so I probably brought at least 10 and I've been washing them often.  I'm on the koningsdam.

Just curious, are you sending the face masks out to laundry? Not sure I want to hand wash in my sink for 21 days, but on the other hand, not sure how sanitary having someone else wash/handle them would be. Hmmmm....

Thanks! This is so helpful, I feel more confident pre-booking excursions, etc!

Will prepaid excursions/amenities (wifi packages, cabanas, etc) be refunded? Will FCC's used to book the cruise be forfeited? Anything else to be aware of? 

What if someone tests positive on the ship? Obviously strict quarantine until disembarkation. Or do they kick you off at the next port? 

I'm hoping by asking these questions, we will never need to know the answers;) 

1 hour ago, MisterBill99 said:

New data point -- sent a fax on 10/30 and just now (11/10) got an email saying that the credit had been applied. I thought the fax was lost, so I emailed them last weekend, but the email I received referenced the fax.

 

BTW, it appears that faxes get sent to the same place as email, since I found this at the bottom of the email.

 

From: faxndr@hollandamerica.com
Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2021 7:23:00 PM
To: "World Cruise Reservations (HAL)"
Subject: A new fax has arrived from FaxZero.com (Part 1 of 1) on Channel 0
 

Thanks for sharing! I emailed on 11/1, hopefully mine will be applied in the next few days! 

I would like more information about this statement:

"small ratio of unvaccinated passengers are allowed to sail"

How small of a ratio is this? Perhaps they have additional safety measures in place, like no independent shore excursions, more frequent testing, etc?