HAL just canceled our June 14th 2022 Triple Denali trip

[Guest ldtr]

4 hours ago, kellycambp said:

I think the cruise lines are going to have to re-evaluate how they bring in their workers for these summer Alaska programs. My college-age son looked into it and I was surprised to find out that they didn’t pay for housing or airfare for their seasonal employees. Maybe that’s how they’ve always done it; I have no idea. But a lot of nice young people probably decided against going there to work for this reason.

A lot of the seasonal workers are RV'ers that drive up for the season.  Do not know about HAL but Princess did provide housing (for a fee) at some locations.  The fee was lower than market rate for someone trying to find summer housing.  A lot of what used to be available for seasonal housing has converted to summer vacation rentals.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Grrrr.  Excuses, excuses, excuses.  HAL cancels cruises, changes itineraries, etc. with relatively little notice.  The time to plan and deal with staffing issues is when scheduling cruises, not in the last few weeks prior to booked trips.  Our last 3 HAL cruises have been cancelled (due to COVID issues) and we have a 2023 Asian booking (42 days) that we suspect will eventually be cancelled although the passengers might be the last to know!  

 

Not every cruise line is cancelling cruises although they are all wrestling with staffing issues.  One reason (out of many) that we have been cruising a lot more on Seabourn (6 cruises in less than a year) is that SB somehow manages to actually have their cruises with the ships being fully staffed.  Perhaps it is because SB allows most of the crew to work 3 month contracts,  crew is properly paid and does not rely on tips (there is no tipping on SB), etc.  Bottom line is that we have lost faith on HAL's ability to perform as advertised.  Staffing a large HAL vessel where a good part of the crew's income is derived from tips must contribute to HAL's difficulties.  If a ship is only sailing at 60% capacity then it is only generating 60% of the usual tipping pool, and yet minimum staffing requirements do not make it possible for the line to cut back staffing to only 60% of the norm.

 

I should add that staffing issues are also causing chaos in the entire airline industry.  The airlines continue to schedule flights that they know will not happen because it allows them to keep "slots" at the busiest airports.  If they fail to schedule flights they can lose their allocation of valuable slots and this will have nasty future impact.  Our strategy for dealing with the airlines has been to drive longer distances to major airports where we can maximize non-stop flights and minimize connections.   Even that has caused us some difficulty, but so-far (knock on wood) we have been able to work around flight cancellations (with some pain).

 

DW recently suggested that perhaps we should cancel our future HAL booking and make alternate arrangements.  Continuing to do the same thing over and over again with no success (such as planning trips around HAL cruises) comes close to the definition of insanity.  The travel/cruise industry is going to have a very long road to recovery if the customers lose faith in their ability to provide the scheduled services.

 

Hank

 

 

According to the airlines one of their biggest problems (other than weather causing delays leading to cancellations when crew time out) is that they are experiencing much higher levels of Covid in crew members.  Really not surprising with masking dropped.  The UK airlines experienced the same when they dropped the Covid restrictions.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Hlitner said:

Perhaps and perhaps not!  HAL and Seabourn (both part of the same management group) have seemingly adopted an attitude to keep passengers/customers in the dark about COVID related issues onboard.  While some cruise lines are being transparent and keep passengers aware of the COVID situation aboard, that is not the case with the HAL Group.   So, whether cancellations are due to crew illness or just bad planning/execution in bringing back staff is a question.  When we were on the SB Ovation (March-April) we did have a significant number of COVID cases (both passengers and crew) but we only knew this because some passengers and crew suddenly disappeared (they had to quarantine for 7 days).  As those folks returned to normal functioning they would relay what they learned while in the quarantine cabins. 

 

 But with a 7 day quarantine requirement they muddled through staffing issues as folks would come and go.  The absurdness of keeping folks in the dark hit a new low when our CD got COVID.  While word of mouth made it clear that he was down with COVID, some officers/staff would only acknowledge he "had a cold."

 

The problem with not informing passengers is that folks are denied knowledge that might cause them to take further mitigation precautions.  So, for example, if we had known that 20% of the ship had COVID we would have likely practiced much more social distancing and adopted a very cautious set of behaviors.  Not knowing how bad it was, many of us continued to hang-out at a crowded bar.

 

Hank  

The only way to get real information about the number of cases on board is to file an FOI request with the CDC.  The good news is that they will actually respond to the request.  The bad news is that it takes about 60 days to get the information.  I filed one looking at the cases 2 months before a change in regulation compared to two months after the change, for all cruises sailing out of US waters.  I am somewhat surprised that one of the media (such as the Miami Herald) has not filed such a request and published a story.

[Taters]

2 hours ago, aliaschief said:

Yesterday You Tube cruise blogger Don stated there was a 40,000 staff shortage throughout the cruise industry. One of the main problems besides getting vaccinated is that in many places it’s taking up to six months for crew to get work Visas.

 

Hard times running a industry when short handed and customers who want their experiences to be perfect like in pre Covid.

He stated Jamaica is stepping up and promising quick visa processing and 10,000 workers. Will wait and see about that. Training would be my first thought?

We live in Fairbanks.  My husband happened to meet 2 newly hired/newly arrived Jamaican ladies at the grocery store yesterday and had a chat with them.  They are living at the Fairbanks Princess Lodge and are scheduled to work 70 hours per week.  Princess provides for their housing as well as their meals.  They are fine with that and are hoping to save a lot of money over the summer season here.  But man!  How many people can work schedules like that?  I'm glad they're here.  We may have them over for dinner if they end up with any time off.

 

Living in Fairbanks since 1984, my clue that spring is REALLY here is when I start seeing the Princess/HAL/RCI busses driving around town training drivers in late April.  This year I saw very few buses.  There doesn't seem to be much traffic in and out of the Fairbanks Westmark Hotel, which I drive past almost every day. 

 

I hope it gets better farther into the summer.  We love our tourists and have missed them over the course of the past couple of years.

[Storylady]

Cruises are still operating. I just read that the Nieuw Amsterdam has not cancelled  any cruises, just the land plus cruise packages.

 

As for crew getting COVID onboard. When a crew member gets COVID, they are quarantined along with anyone they have been in contact with, Tina, the Pinnacle Grill Hostess was quarantined, but didn’t have COVID. One of the BB King Members tested positive, but 3 others were also quarantined. I am glad that HAL is being cautious. There might be a small number that actually tested positive for COVID, but lots more that tested negatuve that have to be quarantined, plus new crew members who are also quarantined. So it is hard to tell how many actually have the virus.

Edited June 4, 2022 by Storylady

[TheLizardHouse]

You would hope that the cruise lines understand what many people here already do, and that is that there is no 'getting back to normal'. You have to provide seasonal workers with flights, and decent accommodation for example, or you just wont get the staff.  Accommodating five staff members in one apartment is just not possible these days, for 'hygiene' reasons alone.  I get that the cruise lines are wanting to recoup $$$ asap, but everything hinges on staffing, and for that, dollars need to be spent to improve conditions.  (And passengers being rude and objectionable, also doesn't help).

 

One small consolation for those of us with land tours booked - this looks easy enough to organise yourself (if needed).  There are dozens of train based options available, we have a Grey Line 'diy' trip as plan B.  Either way, it will be an adventure. 😄

Edited June 5, 2022 by TheLizardHouse

[Andrea701]

16 hours ago, TheLizardHouse said:

I looked through booking dates for the cruise tours, and many weeks were listed as ‘ unavailable’. The week of 7th August is also unavailable, but I’m not sure if that is land first, or cruise.

Clarification: McKinley Lodge looks to be out of action from the present to around the 10th of July. The land tours earlier in the season went ahead, so something’s changed. 

So…what does inactive vs unavailable mean?  My cruise tour had all marked as inactive through June 29 and then my wk, the last of the season. Eeek. 

[TheLizardHouse]

Well, that’s a very good question, I wish I new. 

[Btimmer]

We're booked on a triple Denali starting 6/28/2022 with a sailing southbound on the Noordam.  So far I've not received any notice of cancellation, but if it comes, I will be cancelling the entire trip as the major reason to do the land/sea was to take a granddaughter to Denali. 

[Sebbiesgrammy]

1 hour ago, Btimmer said:

We're booked on a triple Denali starting 6/28/2022 with a sailing southbound on the Noordam.  So far I've not received any notice of cancellation, but if it comes, I will be cancelling the entire trip as the major reason to do the land/sea was to take a granddaughter to Denali. 

Our 6/29 triple Denali on the Nieuw Amsterdam has not been cancelled yet either.  TA has heard nothing and is questioning HAL, so far no info.  Sure hope we don't have to disappoint 2 pre teen grandsons. FWIW, we booked 3 adjoining cabins about 18 months ago. 

[LocoLoco1]

19 hours ago, Freckles1983 said:

Locoloco1 & Gray Lady

 

i will keep you all posted.  Just at the airport now waiting for our flight to Vancouver.  Got our covid negative test results 5 mins before we left our house.  
 

airport service at west jet has been trash so far.  Rude and not helpful.  
 

hopefully it’s all up from here but I won’t lie, I’m not feeling too positive at the moment.  
 

again so sorry to hear about all the terrible situations with peoples trips getting canceled/rescheduled over and over again.  I can’t imagine the stress that would cause and vacations are supposed to be a time to destress.

 My heart really goes out to you all 

 

I’ll update as I can.  
 

Thanks!! I have Minnesota friends on your cruise. Fingers crossed. TOM

[Guest ldtr]

12 hours ago, Btimmer said:

We're booked on a triple Denali starting 6/28/2022 with a sailing southbound on the Noordam.  So far I've not received any notice of cancellation, but if it comes, I will be cancelling the entire trip as the major reason to do the land/sea was to take a granddaughter to Denali. 

You  could very easily do the land portion on your own.  Rent a car in Anchorage and drive to Denali.  Several hotels near the park.  Renting a car gives you far more flexibility than the land tour.  

 

You can also book the train from Anchorage to/from Denali.

[kickboxrca]

Oh no - so sorry to hear 😞  We have a cruise tour booked leaving July 23 ... it's to replace 2 cruises that we had to cancel because of Covid ...

 

I hope you are able to find something that will work for you - pretty miserable to be looking forward to a cruise for a couple of years and then have it cancelled at the last minute.  In addition to giving you cruise credits, you should be able to keep the mariner days you would have earned.  

 

Please let us know what ends up happening!

 

[tupper10]

We actually did the land portion by ourselves and loved it.  We flew into Fairbanks and took the train to Denali. We took the train back down to Anchorage and then we rented a car. To get to the cruise port, I suggest you take the train. You can also rent a car and do the entire trip by car and take the train to the port for the last leg of the trip.   In Denali in addition to hotels there are a fair number of AirBnB's.  The bus ride to see Denali is easy to do and goes exactly the same distance as the one offered by the cruise lines.  If my land trip was canceled I wouldn't hesitate to do this on my own.  BTW we were on the same train as Holland America/Princess when we did the train portions.  

Edited June 5, 2022 by tupper10
correct spelling

[TVlife]

17 minutes ago, tupper10 said:

We actually did the land portion by ourselves and loved it.  We flew into Fairbanks and took the train to Denali. We took the train back down to Anchorage and then we rented a car. To get to the cruise port, I suggest you take the train. You can also rent a car and do the entire trip by car and take the train to the port for the last leg of the trip.   In Denali in addition to hotels there are a fair number of AirBnB's.  The bus ride to see Denali is easy to do and goes exactly the same distance as the one offered by the cruise lines.  If my land trip was canceled I wouldn't hesitate to do this on my own.  BTW we were on the same train as Holland America/Princess when we did the train portions.  

What year did you do this land portion on your own?  Wondering if some things are more challenging this summer, like car rentals and hotel reservations. 

[cruisingteachers4]

Our Double Denali leaves the day after yours should have, June 15th. So far we've heard nothing about a cancellation, so our fingers are crossed. We are starting with the 3 day on the Z-Dam, then the land portion, and finally southbound on the NA.

 

I wonder how HAL is choosing which tours get cancelled and which are allowed to continue? I'll be holding my breath!

[Gray Lady]

28 minutes ago, cruisingteachers4 said:

Our Double Denali leaves the day after yours should have, June 15th. So far we've heard nothing about a cancellation, so our fingers are crossed. We are starting with the 3 day on the Z-Dam, then the land portion, and finally southbound on the NA.

 

I wonder how HAL is choosing which tours get cancelled and which are allowed to continue? I'll be holding my breath!

We may be on the same cruise going south. Leaving on the 26th? We just start in Fairbanks. My main concern now is testing positive before we even get on the ship!

[Lalof]

KirkNC, did you see what other cruises were going to be cancelled?  We are scheduled for the 6/29 land-cruise package.

[cruisingteachers4]

3 minutes ago, Gray Lady said:

We may be on the same cruise going south. Leaving on the 26th? We just start in Fairbanks. My main concern now is testing positive before we even get on the ship!

We are leaving on the 26th!  So far, on our 19 day, testing looks to be the following: 

1) Pre-cruise covid test for the 3 day cruise from Vancouver to Skagway

2) On the cruise, covid test before the land portion of the cruise, Skagway to Dawson

3) In Dawson, pre-flight to Fairbanks covid test

4) In Anchorage, pre-cruise covid test for the Whittier to Vancouver sailing

5) On our own, test to return to the US after the cruise. 

 

Phew!!  I have no idea what will happen at any of these points in time if one of us tests positive! 

[Gray Lady]

Just now, cruisingteachers4 said:

We are leaving on the 26th!  So far, on our 19 day, testing looks to be the following: 

1) Pre-cruise covid test for the 3 day cruise from Vancouver to Skagway

2) On the cruise, covid test before the land portion of the cruise, Skagway to Dawson

3) In Dawson, pre-flight to Fairbanks covid test

4) In Anchorage, pre-cruise covid test for the Whittier to Vancouver sailing

5) On our own, test to return to the US after the cruise. 

 

Phew!!  I have no idea what will happen at any of these points in time if one of us tests positive! 

I don’t mind testing to be safe, but yes, this is a lot! Hopefully everything goes smoothly. We are just going to mask up to control what we can, and hope for the best. I figure we should be old pros at doing tests by the time the cruise is over! And, there are worse places to have to quarantine than Vancouver!

[tupper10]

54 minutes ago, TVlife said:

What year did you do this land portion on your own?  Wondering if some things are more challenging this summer, like car rentals and hotel reservations. 

I did it pre Covid but before posting I checked and the train and AirBNB rentals are still available.  Of course car rentals are higher now but I don't think that Holland America's land portion was inexpensive.  The easiest option is the car rental if you can get into Anchorage - the drive is not hard to do if you are just going to Denali.  It is a 5 hour drive with lots of scenic stops along the way.  We use the big box store for all our car rentals and find it always has the cheapest prices.  

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, TVlife said:

What year did you do this land portion on your own?  Wondering if some things are more challenging this summer, like car rentals and hotel reservations. 

We did it last June.  Car rental were more expensive.  Some of the hotels were short staff and some restaurants were open, but no problem.

 

We have done Alaska on our own 3 times over the years, as well as took a land/cruise tour.  Information easily available on line to plan your own trip.

[cruisingteachers4]

33 minutes ago, Gray Lady said:

I don’t mind testing to be safe, but yes, this is a lot! Hopefully everything goes smoothly. We are just going to mask up to control what we can, and hope for the best. I figure we should be old pros at doing tests by the time the cruise is over! And, there are worse places to have to quarantine than Vancouver!

I totally agree!  I'm just glad that I only have to pay for 2 of the 5!  I'm so excited that we finally get to cruise and travel again!

[Gray Lady]

21 minutes ago, cruisingteachers4 said:

I totally agree!  I'm just glad that I only have to pay for 2 of the 5!  I'm so excited that we finally get to cruise and travel again!

This is our first cruise ever, so keeping our fingers crossed! 

[KirkNC]

1 hour ago, Lalof said:

KirkNC, did you see what other cruises were going to be cancelled?  We are scheduled for the 6/29 land-cruise package.

No, the email just referred to my specific booking.