When should documents arrive?

[wandb]

We have just 2 weeks left before our Ohio River cruise. Have not heard a peep from AQV. When do the cruise documents usually arrive?

[NavyVeteran]

2 hours ago, wandb said:

We have just 2 weeks left before our Ohio River cruise. Have not heard a peep from AQV. When do the cruise documents usually arrive?

Did you book direct or through a travel agent? If you booked through a travel agent, AQV will send the documents to the agent.

[NMCruiser55]

We just received our documents for our June 7 Alaska cruise today, May 21.

[wandb]

Thanks all. We did book through a travel agent, so I guess I'll call tomorrow. 

[pacruise804]

Our agent had several issues as well, but finally received the documents.  We sail tomorrow and she got the docs last Friday.

[wandb]

When we received our documents, we received one form that said no masks were required. Included was another form that said masks were required in all public places on board as well as at embarkation. 
 

Our trusty TA called AQV immediately ( while I was still on the phone) and got that cleared up. At this time NO MASKS are required anywhere on board—- and none required off the boat (unless some port stop decides to put mask regulations in place for their town). 
 

Will pack one or two just in case!

 

We leave one week from today!!!  😄

 

Barb

[Nanner]

This is becoming a real aggravation for us.  We depart on the American Empress on August 1.  We booked direct with the line. We are leaving home on July 28 and although we have called a few times, no documents yet. No idea on luggage allowance, COVID protocols, boarding the Empress, etc. Not to mention we have no luggage tags.

 

We've never sailed with this company before, but I'd like at least a week to plan packing, etc. My husband called to see if they would email us the info, but so far they aren't willing.  We aren't getting a great first impression here, with less than 10 days until we depart.  I'm sure a lot of passengers head out a few days before a sailing to explore the departure port, so it isn't like we're doing anything unusual. 

[donaldsc]

We received our Ocean Victory package 3 days before the cruise departed which was a lot of help to some of the passengers who got to AK earlier to do some DIY land stuff.  I had been to AK many times so it was not a problem to us.  However some of the passengers had done warm weather river cruises but had never been to AK and had never been on an expedition cruise so they were very annoyed.

 

DON

[ericosmith]

Did you book through a travel agent or directly.  If you booked through an agent then the package would be sent to them unless directed otherwise by the agent.  As I recall there was really nothing in the packet that provided any guidance beyond what was on the website.  Luggage tags should be available at the Hilton.  

[DaveinCharlotte]

12 hours ago, ericosmith said:

Did you book through a travel agent or directly.  

Quote from Nanner's post above:  "We booked direct with the line."

[donaldsc]

12 hours ago, ericosmith said:

Did you book through a travel agent or directly.  If you booked through an agent then the package would be sent to them unless directed otherwise by the agent.  As I recall there was really nothing in the packet that provided any guidance beyond what was on the website.  Luggage tags should be available at the Hilton.  

 

We booked through a TA who forwarded them to us as soon as she got them.  We did one of their AK cruises and the packet included a list of stuff that you should bring.  Ignoring the fact that some of the items on the list were more relevant to an early spring or late fall cruise than a mid July cruise, getting the  list 3 days before departure did not give you much time to go out and buy stuff if you needed anything.

 

DON

[bob brown]

We received ours about 12 days prior to our cruise.   I am surprised that in this 'online' day and age, they still do things the old-fashioned way.   I am so used to online check-ins, even including uploading our photo's, as well as printing out our own baggage tags.   It is about time for AQV to get a modern booking website...

[Sunmail]

I talked with AQV yesterday since our river cruise starts on the 1st and no docs.  Their document vendor has gone out of business and quit fulfilling document distributions almost completely. We might still get the docs but AQV is scrambling to get some info out to passengers in email with the remainder of the docs/tags available at cruise check-in at the hotel in Minneapolis. We can use our confirmation from the travel agent to travel with.  Sounds like it will work out. 

 

This is our first river cruise so I really hope it goes well.  We are travelling with my elderly parents and this could be a great way to get them out more.

[wandb]

On 7/21/2022 at 7:51 PM, Sunmail said:

I talked with AQV yesterday since our river cruise starts on the 1st and no docs.  Their document vendor has gone out of business and quit fulfilling document distributions almost completely. We might still get the docs but AQV is scrambling to get some info out to passengers in email with the remainder of the docs/tags available at cruise check-in at the hotel in Minneapolis. We can use our confirmation from the travel agent to travel with.  Sounds like it will work out. 

 

This is our first river cruise so I really hope it goes well.  We are travelling with my elderly parents and this could be a great way to get them out more.

When our documents finally arrived before our cruise, I was surprised how little necessary information was included:

----a brochure on port stops

----one page of Covid protocols

----luggage tags

----one page boarding document

 

None of these are necessary before the cruise check-in at the hotel. I can't understand why AQV still mails them out. It would be so much cheaper and easier to just hand them out at check-in!

 

I hope you and your parents enjoy the cruise. We love river cruising!  You can be as active as you'd like. Some days we hop on and hop off at every stop the bus makes, some days we just ride the bus and listen to the tour guide, some days we sit in those big ole white rocking chairs and watch the river roll by!

 

Enjoy!

[Sunmail]

On 7/23/2022 at 7:34 AM, wandb said:

When our documents finally arrived before our cruise, I was surprised how little necessary information was included:

Thank you for the reply.  All of this is really good to know.  I will assure my parents (80s) that there will be plenty of things their speed.  They will love riding the HOHO and listening to the guide!

[Nanner]

Our documents arrived Priority Mail yesterday.  I'm not sure if the Priority Mail postage is usual, or if they did that because we called several times to ask that we get the info prior to departing 4 days before embarkation. 

 

I know most cruise ships have luggage tags available on site, if you forget them or need more. The one truly essential piece that we wouldn't have online is the particulars of the timeline for our cruise regarding the COVID testing hours prior to embarkation, time to check in for the cruise at the hotel, etc. Of course, that could also be emailed to us, but for those who depart from home early and may not have easy access to the internet in the days prior to cruising, it's nice to have that in hand. 

 

Now it's time to get packing!

Edited July 24, 2022 by Nanner