Holland America Adding New Mobile Technology to Speed Up Boarding

[JT1962]

Great news to help speed up the boarding process. 
 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/27040-holland-america-speeds-up-embarkation-process-with-new-tech.html

[Dunmore2]

Wow, it it works as well as it should, embarkation will be slick.

[soundman99]

This is great news. I saw the pictures as an option in my Navigator app so I uploaded them for all the members of my party just last night. We're heading out on Koningsdam in 8 days, I wonder if everything will be in place by then. I haven't heard anything from HAL regarding either (especially VeriFly).  I might just go ahead and download the app and get that all registered in case they are ready for it in San Diego.

[aliaschief]

All loaded up and ready to embark Sunday!

[mobilemac]

My wife and I cruised from San Diego on the KDAM Feb 27 - March 6.  The check in process was 100% different from all our prior cruises.  Yes, make sure to download Navigator from your App store to your phone before you board ... it will include your boarding pass and confirmation that you completed the Health Questionaire.  The check in agent scanned our boarding pass UPC code off our phone Navigator with a handheld device and also hand scanned the Covid test results that had been emailed to us by CVS.  Don't rely on copies of the Covid vaccination card, however ... have the real thing.  It will be scanned into the system with the check in agent's handheld device.  The agent printed a boarding receipt from their handheld device that we used to board the ship.  Our keys are waiting in the mail slot by our stateroom door.  Bottom line, very slick and very fast.  We were impressed how quickly we were processed and onboard.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

We checked into the Zuiderdam using this tech on 27 Feb.   worked great.    The security photo you upload in advance was not the one used at the gangway but only used to match our faces.   
 

Our picture on file at the gangway is from years ago.  

[Orsino]

I have Verifly set up for our cruise, but nothing called mbark. I did notice that when I answered the health questions on verifly, it was automatically complete on hollandamerica.com.

 

For people wondering about Verifly. I got an email from Holland America five or six days before my cruise. There isn't much of a reason for HAL to tell you about it earlier. You can't finish verifly until you have your covid test result, so no need to rush.

[Kay S]

This will be a problem for people without smart phones.  I assume it can still be done the old fashioned way with real people and paper documents.

[Mary229]

I hope we don’t need to do this.  I only use apps, as required, for personal information 

[Brodysmum]

I have gone mad doing the Veryifly, not doing it…

[PRPLE]

1 hour ago, Brodysmum said:

I have gone mad doing the Veryifly, not doing it…

What’s the problem?

[PRPLE]

5 hours ago, soundman99 said:

This is great news. I saw the pictures as an option in my Navigator app so I uploaded them for all the members of my party just last night.

Where to add pic in the app?

[Dreamer115]

7 hours ago, soundman99 said:

This is great news. I saw the pictures as an option in my Navigator app so I uploaded them for all the members of my party just last night. We're heading out on Koningsdam in 8 days, I wonder if everything will be in place by then. I haven't heard anything from HAL regarding either (especially VeriFly).  I might just go ahead and download the app and get that all registered in case they are ready for it in San Diego.

Please let us know when you get back if it was up and how it worked.

[soundman99]

3 hours ago, PRPLE said:

Where to add pic in the app?

Right on the Home screen, at the top, I see "Boarding Pass", "Add Security Photo" and "Frequently Asked Question". I'm guessing that since it's been 15 years since I've been on a HAL ship and my kids have never been on a HAL ship, they'll use these pics for our ship ID cards.

[Skorpora]

I was on the March 6 sailing of the Nieuw Statendam, and we used Verifly. Very easy to set up and use for our checkin. This was the fastest I have ever been checked in!

[zgscl]

2 hours ago, Skorpora said:

I was on the March 6 sailing of the Nieuw Statendam, and we used Verifly. Very easy to set up and use for our checkin. This was the fastest I have ever been checked in!

Did they have a separate line if you had used verifly or do you go through the regular line for health screening and then just show your code?

[jkrislc]

7 hours ago, PRPLE said:

Where to add pic in the app?

It may not show up until a couple of weeks before your sailing, but you should see it immediately after the app opens at the top left. 
 

[Orsino]

14 hours ago, PRPLE said:

Where to add pic in the app?

Note: you can add a pic to two apps if using VeriFLY: VeriFLY and the HAL app. Wether you need both, I don’t know, but I did both. 

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

17 hours ago, Kay S said:

This will be a problem for people without smart phones.  I assume it can still be done the old fashioned way with real people and paper documents.

Yes. I boarded Konigsdam Feb 27th; have never downloaded the Navigator app; had all my papers and it went just as smoothly as reported by others. 

[PRPLE]

8 hours ago, jkrislc said:

It may not show up until a couple of weeks before your sailing, but you should see it immediately after the app opens at the top left. 
 

Thanks!  I do t see it yet… might be too far out 

[DaveOKC]

54 minutes ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

Yes. I boarded Konigsdam Feb 27th; have never downloaded the Navigator app; had all my papers and it went just as smoothly as reported by others. 

Good to hear that!  I suspect HAL is using this current slow period to install and test new boarding systems to be ready for "better" times when ships are full again.

[Ferry_Watcher]

Seattle's Pier 91 used the facial recognition kiosks for checking-in passengers with passports during the 2021 Alaska cruise season.  If it didn't work, passengers were just sent tp the counter.

[Skorpora]

20 hours ago, zgscl said:

Did they have a separate line if you had used verifly or do you go through the regular line for health screening and then just show your code?

Separate line. But there was no line lol.