silversneakers

Emailed my shareholder benefit request (for HAL) on 8/15, received auto response immediately, AND received my OBC confirmation 8/16.  WOW....I am impressed with the turnaround time.

1 hour ago, 1pinehurst said:

Some people are wondering why we tested? My wife had developed a cough and it sounded like developing bronchitis to me,, so she went to get a Z pac and cough medicine. Covid symptoms and now TEST required. ! Negative test but they required her to stay in room and be tested again next day. Positive next day for her but still negative for me. Our friend with the same symptoms didn’t test and is now at home. We are now in day 3 and will probably never hear from HAL or the Canadian gov. If you are going to be quarantined for 10 days  I recommend you both be about twenty and madly in love.😀

We always get a Z pack from our HCP before we sail.....just in case.

Why is the quarantine still 10 days since the CDC guidelines state 5 days. Evidently there are new guidelines that say if exposed to positive person and you have no symptoms, wear a mask, test after 5 days but no quarantine.

Is the 10 day quarantine Canadian guideline or HAL guideline??

5 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Any confirmation of this?

Look at the Shareholder Benefit doc online.

14 hours ago, kazu said:

Not casino if it’s non refundable on most ships now.

Also, I don't believe shareholder benefit can be used for gratuities.

16 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

This is very true.  But I'm more concerned about serious illness onboard, that might disrupt the cruise.  Which applies to @NavyCruiser's comment, too.  Personally, I'm over worrying about COVID.  I've had four jabs.  DH has had four jabs AND COVID.  It was like a runny nose for him.  But we'd like to avoid changes in itinerary for medical evacuations of seriously ill people.  

 

To each his own on this one.  I hope some cruise lines continue to require vaccinations.

I think it's more of an issue of being placed in quarantine while on the cruise. Even if the symptoms are mild, you are still placed in quarantine,  As far as changes in itinerary for medivac and seriously ill people, I don't get your self-centered viewpoint.

3 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

By now it seems like most are either vaccinated or have already had COVID, so I can see why they are doing that.  For us, it's too soon.  I still want to cruise on vaccinated ships.

And, it doesn't appear that if you are vaccinated, boosted, or have had COVID before that it precludes you from getting it again.  At least in my work environment that is proving to be true.

In today's political environment I don't think it will happen. IMO

Then they'll start with "monkey pox" vax requirement🤪

Bottom line to all of this conversation is that no-one knows how they contracted COVID or when.  Do what you feel is right for you.  I agree, this will be with us going forward, just like the flu. I work in an .environment where people vaxed, not vaxed, boosted, not boosted, masked or not are reporting covid positive. We use cdc guidelines 5 day quarantine with return to work on the 6th day.  It is truly a revolving door, 10 in, 10 out. Fortunately for most, the symptoms are cold-like.

The only things you can do are those that make you feel comfortable as it appears that mask or no mask, vaccine or no vaccine, booster(s) or none, do not appear to make much difference as to who contracts COVID. 

12 hours ago, What was that? said:

I have heard that other cruise ships have stopped providing drinking straws for environmental (or possibly cost-saving) reasons. Is HAL one of them, and more specifically, are they provided on Noordam? We board her on 14 August, so there is still time to pack some to take with.

You can always bring your own biodegradable straws. One cruise I was on recently provided straws however they were "sugar" straws.  When I asked for a straw to drink my Pina Colada I did not realize it was made from sugar and I almost choked from the taste!

11 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

You are quite correct.  This is a failure of the cruise line in, probably more than one, department to properly illustrate what the venues on the ships are and for what purpose they are used.  It's a failure on several levels.

 

1.  No hard copy brochures with deck plans shown that make it easy to see and compare the deck plans.

2.  With the lack of those brochures, lacking is a better description and photos of the facilities and showing how they are used.  On the cruise lines web site, I don't get the "same sense".

3.  A guest's common sense?  A guest's lack of doing the research needed to prevent a stateroom choice that they don't like once aboard?  

4. A guest doing their booking on their own when they really don't know what they are booking.  

5.  A guest doing a DIY booking and dealing with a cruise line representative that has never experienced the product he/she is selling and cannot accurately answer any question, with any certainty, the guest may ask.  

 

Buying a cruise is not the same as buying an Amtrak ticket.  The disappointed ones learn that to their dismay.  

I always use cabintoolchecker to look at ship's layout for cabin selection.  So far it has been a useful tool and I would recommend it.

On 7/20/2022 at 6:36 AM, travelers07 said:

Wow- you sound very prepared. I will say that for me that might be a little warm. In Reykjavik, I wore a nylon undershirt, a light cotton shirt, and a quilted vest. I found I was very warm and even took off the under layer when I stopped at a lovely restroom in the concert hall. It was probably 50’s and humid. But I don’t want to discourage you with your planned layers. And something waterproof is a good idea. We have been lucky with no rain but it has been predicted most days.

We traveled to Iceland in July a few years back and what I found was that the wind was the issue, not particularly the temperature but very, very windy. I remember wearing a quilted coat with a hood and scarf.

I vote no based on the info you provided.  

Just curious....is there any advantage for getting a prepaid beverage card?

12 hours ago, DA346 said:

Does anyone know the current day pass price for the suite? I'm on a 7 day Alaska cruise on the Zuiderdam that leaves in a couple of weeks. Was planning to book the 7 day pass for 149USD per person but realized that we likely wouldn't get to it on at least 3 of the 7 days due to port visits. Wondering if it might be better to just pay for the days we decide to use it and hope it isn't booked up. Thanks!

On a recent cruise we just went to the Spa and bought the day pass. I believe day passes can only be purchased onboard in the Spa.

It doesn't seem to matter if you are fully vaccinated, boosted or not....you can still test positive and be put in quarantine.  Not sure how this will all play out. I'm so over this.....

5 hours ago, Laminator said:

I thought you had to call to take advantage of those offers. It's a 30 day time frame to book. I don't see a chance in hell where HAL will have that offer on their website. They would need to go into each individual pax account that received the offer.

 

If you have a PVP cruise contact I would call that person. I have received such an offer and you do have to book a cruise by the deadline on the offer. ALSO, I would highly recommend you keep and bring that paper offer with you when you are sailing to take advantage of that offer as I had an issue will verification on one of my sailings and I'm glad I had proof.

I used to sail Carnival and Royal Caribbean exclusively but lately have been sailing HAL. I honestly love the smaller capacity on the HAL ships, not many children and a quieter, subdued atmosphere but then again I am getting older and my late night party spirit has disappeared. When I take the grandkids, I do go on the Carnival/RCCL big ships as there is so much for the kids to do.  I have also sailed Princess, Celebrity and Costa and of the three, I would not sail on Costa again, just my opinion.

11 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Thank you for the information.  For some reason I feel that restaurants like the stand alone sel de mer and pinnacle should have more polished service then the others.  It doesn’t seem like it lately for the pinnacle anyway.

All cruise lines (and airlines) are having huge staffing issues during this time so it may take a while to bring the industry back to higher standards. And, if you ask the staff, you will realize they are performing multiple tasks to try to fill the need.

12 hours ago, NukeTim said:

Any recommendations on best way / value for getting bottled water for our cabin?  We have the signature beverage package; so can we just ask for small bottles from a bar to take back? Seems like a hassle and a waste of one or two of our 15 daily beverages.  Is it better to just take it out of the room minibar?  Precruise purchased water packages seem expensive.  I saw than you cannot bring any water in a plastic container on board at any port. P.S. my wife will not drink the water out of the tap.  Suggestions?

You can no longer get "bottled" water with the package but you can get "canned" water. I found that out on my last cruise  The large bottles of water should be in your cabin and can be ordered for replacement easily.  The other issue I had with the drink package was that I like Pellegrino water at dinner and I had to pay for that as it was not included in the package.

1 hour ago, AFNavigator said:

I believe it has been stated previously that neither the basic nor the HAL bonus cards are refundable.  They just get restored as gift cards for future use.  The catch on the HAL bonus cards is they have an expiration date.

Depending on your cancellation reason though, it is possible HAL might refund via Future Cruise Credit rather than refunding as a gift card.

Thx

1 hour ago, AFNavigator said:

The AARP deal is actually marginally better than HAL's $50 bonus card per $500 card purchase.  Let's say you buy $4,500 through AARP to get $5,000 face value.  If you invest the same $4,500 in HAL's 10% bonus offer (if they offer that deal again), you would get $450 in bonus cards for a total of $4,950, $50 less than through AARP.

During the COVID shutdown, HAL had a short time offer of $100 bonus per $500 purchase...now that was a good deal!

I thought I read somewhere that if cancel your cruise, the HAL "bonus" cards are not refundable but correct me if I'm wrong.

6 minutes ago, Bruinboy said:

Thanks for sharing. Not that masked wearing would have made a difference but it would not have hurt. Sorry for being left hanging from Hal and Beacon. That's the worst of all. If one wants to avoid masks on cruises, one should wait a few more months to board a ship. We have made that decision. Hopefully, the world will be different July 2023.

Did you have travel insurance through HAL?  So disappointed that HAL didn't see you through this....