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Sept 18 - Sept 24 Nieuw Amsterdam sailing Seattle/Alaska trip report

AKJonesy

By AKJonesy,
in Holland America Line

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AKJonesy

AKJonesy

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Thursday, Sept 16 and Friday, Sept 17 - The testing is proving to be stressful.  We had our 2 DAY Rapid Test in Anchorage prior to boarding flight to Seattle on Thursday.  We showed at Walgreens for our morning appointments.  No one came to the drive through.  We called and called and then was finally told the pharmacist doesn't do these tests until 4pm.  We have confirmed tests through the Walgreens portal specifically for that particular location.  So, just because you book through the Walgreens portal doesn't necessarily mean that you are getting a test.  At 5:52am Thursday, we received a confirmation of our tests.  On to plan B for testing.  We headed over to ANC airport where we knew Capstone was doing PCR testing.  We had seen that there were no Rapid Tests available due to a nationwide shortage.  We had our tests done at 11:00am Thursday.  Off to wait for our flight.  In the meantime, I call HAL somewhat in a panic as I frantically found now NO Rapid appointments in Anchorage or Seattle available.  The woman on the phone, who was NOT familiar with the testing at the pier, did look up the policy, and sensing my panic, she got in touch with a manager.  I was told that if I can prove that I attempted to get the first test and then did the second test but did not receive the test in time for embarkation, that I would get a test at the Pier.  This is exceptional.  So, I felt a bit of relief.  Arriving at SeaTac, I popped down to Xpres Check for yet another covid test, but they were closed by the time we arrived.  Just so you know, they are open 8-6.  There are two lines; one for appointments and one for walk ups.  So, once we got to our hotel in Seattle, I filled out the documentation on line and booked an appointment for Saturday morning...just in case.  I popped over there this morning, since our hotel was a SeaTac and found the lines to be reasonable.  I expect that between getting in line and getting the test results would probably be two hours.  So, that is the plan for tomorrow if hubby's test does not come back.  We will go first thing.  At least we have the 3rd back up.  Who would know this was going to be so stressful.  

 

We are staying at the Coast Hotel.  I booked this hotel two months ago for a super price.  The hotel is spotlessly clean, and the staff are friendly and helpful.  I asked to have my documents all printed out and there are a couple of options by sending the docs to them or printing in the business center.  The breakfast now comes in a paper bag, but we were not expecting breakfast.  Although, it was nice to have coffee first thing.  Last night we went out for Thai one block from hotel and the restaurant and service were exceptional.  It was extremely pleasant to enjoy this meal in a place with no excuses.  They were on top of it.  

 

Once we get the hubbys test results we will book SeattleExpress for our transfer on Saturday at 12:30pm.  We board at 1:20.  Keeping fingers crossed now that hubby gets results and we don't go over to SeaTac tomorrow morning for rapid test.  It's a bit miserable here today with rain forecasted all day.  We planned to go to Space Needle but don't know now.  We'll take the Tram and Bus combo there which is super simple.  

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dchip

dchip

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Oh my gosh!!! Fingers crossed for you. This is no way to start a vacation. I know how you feel though. We went to Hawaii in June for our 55th anniversary. My test results didn’t arrive until 2 hours before the car service picked us up for the airport. We had to fill out quite a bit of information for Hawaii safe travel and only upload test results to a PDF. I had a big Bloody Mary when we finally got to the airport. 
Good Luck, Denise

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canadianbear

canadianbear

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Wow-I’d find that SO stressful.  I hope it all works out for you.  It’s miserable up here in Vancouver too.  Sorry about our west coast weather for the next couple of days.  
 

Nice to hear your hotel is great.  Hope you have a relaxing cruise!

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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OMG - that is super stressful - no way to start a vacation at all.

 

I hope everything goes smoothly and all the results come in and the rest of your vacation makes up for all of these hiccups and hoops you have had to jump through 🤞 

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AKJonesy

AKJonesy

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Friday, Sept 17 continued

This morning was a bit drizzly so we had our breakfast and went to gym. Around noon we grabbed the tram and went to Pike's Market. It was nice to see the market still doing well but did not like seeing some of the characters on the street. We sampled some of the food, grabbed a flight of beer at Pike's Brewing and headed back to SeaTac area stopping for a light dinner at Spencer's. Hubby's PCR test still not here so hoping we wake up and find it there. We are scheduled for Seattle Express pick up around noon tomorrow. Round trip pp is $35 to Pier and back to SeaTac concluding cruise. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

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AKJonesy

AKJonesy

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Saturday, Sept 18 Cruise Day finally!

Thank you for all of the well wishes. Well, GREAT NEWS...hubby got his negative results. What a nail biter. In a few hours our transfer will pick us up.  All of the paperwork triple checked. I printed out everything at the business center here at the hotel. It poured this morning but the sun is peaking out! Yup, this is our view but it is so quiet at night. Just in case the wifi is not good at port or on ship, I will let you all know how it goes from our first port.

 

20210918_083956.jpg

Edited by AKJonesy
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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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46 minutes ago, AKJonesy said:

Saturday, Sept 18 Cruise Day finally!

Thank you for all of the well wishes. Well, GREAT NEWS...hubby got his negative results. What a nail biter. In a few hours our transfer will pick us up.  All of the paperwork triple checked. I printed out everything at the business center here at the hotel. It poured this morning but the sun is peaking out! Yup, this is our view but it is so quiet at night. Just in case the wifi is not good at port or on ship, I will let you all know how it goes from our first port.

 

20210918_083956.jpg

 

So happy to hear that you got the test results 👍 

 

Bon Voyage.  I hope you have a truly wonderful cruise 🙂 

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PROCRUISE

PROCRUISE

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WOW - no one should have to go through this stress before boarding a ship! Luckily we were on the last cruise to Alaska in August where only wearing masks onboard were required.Yes, there are some real "characters" at Pike's Market!! Next HAL cruise isn't until February and hope things get at least a little better by then and that HAL offers pier side testing for free like NCL.

Enjoy your cruise to the fullest.

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scubacruiserx2 Holiday Sharing Rare

scubacruiserx2

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20 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

Friday, Sept 17 continued

This morning was a bit drizzly so we had our breakfast and went to gym. Around noon we grabbed the tram and went to Pike's Market. It was nice to see the market still doing well but did not like seeing some of the characters on the street. We sampled some of the food, grabbed a flight of beer at Pike's Brewing and headed back to SeaTac area stopping for a light dinner at Spencer's. Hubby's PCR test still not here so hoping we wake up and find it there. We are scheduled for Seattle Express pick up around noon tomorrow. Round trip pp is $35 to Pier and back to SeaTac concluding cruise. Keeping my fingers crossed. 

20210917_134536.jpg

20210917_133837.jpg

20210917_133617.jpg

Oh, so that is where all our warm water tails have gone. In fact we will have some tonight!

We are glad the testing and all has worked out for you. We were suppose to join you on this cruise, but ended up cancelling last month. It has worked out for the best. Some cruise soon hopefully. We will be following you. Have a wonderful trip.

DSC00209 (2).JPG

Edited by scubacruiserx2
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ger_77

ger_77

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3 minutes ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Just looked at the rollcall, they did not make the ship.

They're from Iowa; either they drove to the port or they flew - in which case they would have had to have produced some kind of ID . . . . am I missing something here?

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

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1ANGELCAT

1ANGELCAT

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6 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

They're from Iowa; either they drove to the port or they flew - in which case they would have had to have produced some kind of ID . . . . am I missing something here?

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

The original post on the rollcall said apparently you do need a passport and or birth certificate to sail.

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