RRFan

HAL's Have It All are each one different based on the promotion. It will state on the payment receipt what was included in the HIA they purchased. Some times specialty dining is included, some times an excursion or excursion credits are included. Some times WiFi is included, sometimes for one, some times for more than one device. Lots of different combinations possible. Often gratuities are included though. Your friend should look at their payment statement. If they booked through a TA, they can tell her what was included. Or call HAL directly to clarify what is included. It will be included on the booking number listed on her statement.

I do each cruise separately because I like to keep all paperwork filed on my computer by date of cruise. Also, if you are doing a B2B cruise with two separate booking numbers, be sure you apply for BOTH booking numbers. Each booking number entitles you to the benefit. We also make sure we've always got 2 or 3 deposits with PCL and HAL both so that when we book, we get the benefit of the Future Cruise OBC too. We do a lot of B2B's so we need 2 deposits each time, hence we keep several on account. You have to put the deposits down while you are onboard though, you can't just send in money and ask them to apply it to future cruises. Visit the Future Cruise office onboard and tell them you want to put some deposits down for future use. If you haven't booked a cruise in 24 months of placing the deposits, they will automatically refund the deposits to you. During Covid, PCL returned 6 deposits each to us. We were sad because then we didn't have the FCC OBC on our next cruise. 🙂

Well I'm sure we are in the minority, but we do not drink alcohol or soft drinks. I have always traded our mini-bar for 2 coffee pkgs. Hubs doesn't even drink coffee but does drink teas. Neither of us ever use all of our coffee/tea "punches". So that is one perk we are especially sad to lose. There are many we seem to have lost. I think trading our mini bar for 2 (or even 1) coffee package would be financially better for PCL than giving us the minibar. I don't see why that option can't be set in our preferences like Queen vs Twin beds. Save the trouble of trading them out. We haven't been on PCL since '20 and a lot of the reason is our unhappiness over all of the Elite perks being taken away. We have booked a cruise in Oct and depending upon how it goes, may just be our last one on PCL. Hate that because we've loved cruising with Princess for 15 years. I've always said 15 cruises wasn't enough to get to Elite, but instead of re-structuring their loyalty categories, they just stripped many of the Elite perks out. By doing that, I think they've lost a ton of loyal Elites too. Not a smart business decision IMHO.

Thank you 2 Cruises a Year. I have the form and just edit it on my computer. I know some say only send in the documentation, but I like to use the form to document the booking # I'm applying for since we typically do several cruises each year and I tend to forget if I don't have my docs! Ha! I appreciate your response.

Thanks! I have an old version of that. This one has an email address. Appreciate the reply.

So we haven't been on PCL since 2019 and have a cruise booked this year. We've had stock for 15 years and have always gotten (and appreciated) the shareholder benefit. Is PCL still honoring the shareholder benefit? Is there a Princess email address to send it to? I have always faxed it but have been emailing HAL's, so wondered if there is a PCL email address for this. Thanks for any answers you may have.

Sorry for barging in on your live thread, but considering booking the Crown for HI in April and wanted to get a status report on the ship's shape. I read where she was supposed to go into dry dock in Oct '22. Can you report on any changes to configurations or if the ship is in pretty good shape? I know the Crown was having bad propulsion problems and I believe some sewage blockages last summer. Hopefully that is all fixed up now. Thanks for any info someone may can report!!

Actually "Up-To-Date" depends upon when you sail and which ship you are on as to which protocols they are requiring. Find your ship and sailing date on the latest PDF and look at the far right column to see which protocol you will sail under. The last 2 pages of the PDF are the explanations of the various protocols listed for the ships. Here is an example of Nieuw Statendam sailing out of Quebec City on Oct 8. That particular sailing is under "ALASKA AND CANADA PROTOCOLS". That particular protocol does not require any booster (although having them is fine). Those passengers must be vaccinated and provide a negative covid test. Notice the protocol above and below it both specify that boosters are required. This particular one does not. Each person needs to check carefully for the appropriate protocol for their specific cruise. It is not one-size fits all.

No. All tests must be proctored by medical personnel. eMed.com is one option. You buy it before you fly and must call and they do a Facetime type of test (so apparently you must have a phone capable of that) and they watch you break the seal on the test and walk you through exactly how to perform the test. Once complete, if you are negative, they send a QR code to you (and possibly an email also) stating that you had a negative, proctored test on X/X/XX at X pm (for example). That can be uploaded to the apps requiring it. You can also print or show on your phone as you get to embarkation, but having the app loaded seems to be much faster embarking according to what I've read.

We had a flight delay a few years ago on this same itinerary but with Princess. We didn't arrive at the ship until about 9 pm on the first day (just as your cruise, we also spent the first night in QC). The only problem was that all of the embarkation people had already left for the day. The terminal was open, but no one was there to help us (we had called early in the day and told them about our flight delay). Once we got to the terminal, we called the ship and told them we were there to check in. They sent an officer to the terminal who escorted us onboard to check us in and all was well. Just to be safe, be sure you have a phone number to call in case the onshore people have all left the terminal when you arrive. We will be on the NS for the Oct 8 QC to FLL with you and looking forward to it!!

Thank you @fatcat04 I did misunderstand what you were saying. I am hoping you are correct about that. They couldn't possibly make this more confusing if they tried.

Thank you for responding and yes that is the cruise I'm asking about. I looked on HAL's list and the Nieuw Statendam is NOT on the list: https://www.hollandamerica.com/content/dam/hal/inventory-assets/Health_Sanitation/2022/Enhanced-Protocols-0831.pdf Would you mind giving me the link listing NS please? And according to this list, the enhanced Canada protocols do require vax +1 booster + testing. Are you thinking that the "previous" protocols didn't require booster? I'm so confused! Thanks so much

I DO NOT want to start a debate here, but there are a myriad of problems that have been associated with the vaccines. What I'm most concerned with at my age are blood clots and myocarditis. It's simply my personal preference. I know many people have had no problems and I'm happy for them. I would just prefer to not have to take a booster and it wasn't required when I booked my Oct Quebec City to FLL cruise so that is why I'm asking. The requirements seem to constantly change.

Is requiring at least one booster new? I had read that "fully vaccinated" did not require a booster. Might be a deal breaker for me. We are vaccinated but no booster and don't plan to get one with all of the problems being reported lately. If we test negative, are we ok?

There will be a future cruise consultant onboard with desk hours posted. Just go by any time. There is no limit to how many deposits you want to have for future cruises. We cruised a lot and as I said most often did more than one cruise at a time so we each needed one for each cruise we booked. All future cruise deposits used to be $100 pp per future cruise. It has changed now for longer cruises (we haven't been on a ship since 2/20 but are going to be on one in Oct and plan to put down more since this trip used our last deposit). If you book a cruise later from home with a TA or directly with HAL, just tell them you want to use one (or more) of your future cruise deposits. That will suffice as your initial deposit (instead of 20% or whatever would normally be due). They will apply the deposit amount and apply however much OBC goes with the length and type of cabin you book. They will deduct that from the total cruise cost and you just pay the balance by the due date. You can log into your account online with HAL any time and see how many FCDs you have and how much OBC will be available. Very easy. I believe this is still current info:

We have always kept Future Cruise Deposits booked because we typically book last minute and the OBC is just free money for the trouble of putting the deposits down while on board. We have had 10 deposits each (but we typically book at least one b2b and often more at a time). You don't have to book the cruises until you're ready. Since you're about to be on a ship, you might just wait until you're on board and book it. Being 2024, your odds of the same cabin being available in 10 days is good (unless of course there is only one particular suite or something you want). You can put deposits down on board and book then if you want too. If you change your mind before 2024, just cancel and the cruise deposits go back to your account. I haven't checked lately, but it used to be that you had 2 years to book using the deposits or they were automatically returned to you,

Since I haven't cruised in awhile, I haven't been on these boards lately. I did look but didn't see this addressed. Thank you for the information.

Haven't been on a HAL ship since 2019. How are they doing the lifeboat drills now? Do we still have to report to our muster station for the full drill or do we watch a video on TV and go to your muster station to scan in? That's what PCL was doing the last time I cruised with them. Thanks in advance!

We have always faxed our shareholder requests to HAL and PCL both. Just booked an Oct cruise with HAL yesterday and after reading this thread, I emailed our shareholder request in about mid-morning. Had a reply email by 4 pm that it was approved and would be applied to our onboard account upon embarkation. That is new. In the past (note that we haven't sailed since 2/20) , we could see the credit beforehand. Maybe it has become a hassle for them since so many have booked and cancelled over the last year and a half? I printed the email and will have it with me in case it's not there so the front desk (or whomever) can get it applied for me.