sue1898

High school graduation trip in 1969 NCL Sunward Miami to Nassau. 

24 minutes ago, Se4deb said:

Have they made it back to their cruise yet.  I love Diane's writing. It has been almost a month now.  I sure hope all is well. 
 

They won’t be rejoining the cruise…details on their Facebook page.

More details from Cruise Critic

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/holland-america-line-top-chef-partnership#

The new season of Top Chef starts next month and according to this Food and Wine article:

The cheftestants that make it through to the finale will then hop on a flight to board a Holland America cruise ship for an epic high-seas finale, which includes a surprise visit  from Holland America’s Fresh Fish Program Ambassador, chef Masaharu Morimoto, before having to prepare an eight-course fish-tasting menu for the penultimate episode (no pressure, right?). And, for the final meal, the remaining chefs are tasked with the “best four-course meal of their lives” to take home the $250,000, along with our favorite prize, a feature in Food & Wine and an appearance at the 41st annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.  
Full article is here https://www.foodandwine.com/top-chef-season-21-introduction-8559965

24 minutes ago, shadow 123 said:

I can't find the gift cards on the AARP website. I called and no 1 know what I was talking about. How do I get them?

10 minutes ago, Bookited said:

I also couldn't find them.

Try here https://www.aarp.org/rewards/#:~:text=In addition%2C AARP Rewards offers,cruise lines%2C hotels and airlines.

Try this:

Officeofthepresident@hollandamerica.com
I found it via Google and got a call after a few weeks from a woman who was a Special assistant to the President. She was able to resolve my problem that I’d been working on for 6 months (they had listed an incorrect number of days I was in Covid quarantine and the HAL insurance would only reimburse me for the number of days on the official paperwork)

@Arwen Denali is a national park and all tours inside the park are through the parks service. We did it a few years ago and the buses are basic but not awful and if you want to experience the interior of Denali National Park that’s your only option.

@Vict0riann my recent experience is that if you are reimbursed by the HAL plan for days in isolation (which falls under the trip interruption section) HAL will not issue you Future Cruise Credits for those days. I had my FCCs issued and once the insurance paperwork was finalized and the check issued the FCCs disappeared. After successfully reaching a Special Assistant to the President I learned that is the policy as they consider it double dipping.

@sailawayward from the same page on the HAL website under the FAQ it says Mariner Benefits start with your second cruise. 

This should help IF the web site cooperates https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/my-account/log-in/gifter-log-in

Someone posted this one yesterday Reservations_submit@hollandamerica.com

Besides the reasons listed above for waiting to purchase til onboard, you could go to one of the wine tastings early in your cruise and taste wines you are considering.

There are 2 fixed dining times. They are called Early and Main. Looks like you have Main which is around 8 PM

@alwaysfrantic it’s my understanding that the coffeemakers onboard are not Nespresso but rather a brand called Monodor and the pods are not interchangeable.

I received the medical records release from HAL Guest Relations. This is the email address that I was asked to send the completed form to: mrecordsrequests@carnival.com.

Not sure if you can request the blank form from them.

I believe mine showed up about 2 months after I arrived home. You’ll need to keep checking because they don’t inform you that they are there, they just appear when you log on.

I tried searching unsuccessfully but recall someone posting in the recent months the address to reach the Neptune concierge on a particular ship directly. I believe it was to help someone who left an item behind. Now that I need that info I can’t locate it. Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!

Follow along here 

The prices @gameazel listed are much more reasonable. HAL used to have fancy Black Label photo packages so perhaps the exorbitant prices mentioned earlier are Black Label.

3 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

A little geography lesson

@Mary229 hopefully your maps will be helpful! I looked at expected Quebec City wind speeds for the weekend from 3 very reputable weather sites and the highest was 9 mph. Perhaps this will alleviate the original poster’s worry. 

The aluminum bottle with screw top pictured above is what we had on the K’dam in June.

My experience in June was I received copies of my medical record as well as two different certifications of isolation. This was all delivered to my stateroom and I believe there was a $5 charge. I had the platinum coverage through HAL and have been in contact with them. I must wait to see if my health insurance pays for the medical (it should since I was in Alaska). Once that is determined I can file my claim. According to the FAQ on the HAL website I should get some $’s for my isolation days. Here’s what the website says:

“What if I am isolated in my stateroom for part of my voyage due to COVID-19?

CPP Platinum provides reimbursement for any days that you are confined to your stateroom if the confinement is ordered by a medical professional.”

HAL also issued Future Cruise Credits to my Mariner account for the days I was isolated. Those showed up about 7 weeks later.

23 minutes ago, JohnnyPS said:

We are out of Vancouver in a couple of weeks on the Koningsdam.  We have booked a Neptune Suite and according to everything I have read we should get some sort of priority check-in and disembarkation.  I have seen some mixed reviews about this.  We sailed on HAL back in 2003 so for all intents and purposes we are newbies on HAL

 

Can anyone who has been through Vancouver comment on this?  It appears that the sailing is at capacity, so I am expecting the cruise port to be crowded.

I did this cruise the end of June. The priority is only for boarding. There are security and government lines before that and there is no priority in either of those lines. 

@gregma60 this is a screen shot of my boarding pass from June. It doesn’t say priority but since we were in a Neptune Suite we were and when I mentioned that we were directed to that line. Bear in mind that in Vancouver there is security screening and government screening both BEFORE the priority line which is only priority for boarding. In late June with 2 ships boarding that day it took about 1 1/2 to 2 hours from arrival to being in our suite. As I recall only the boarding area had chairs so you could sit while you waited.

6 hours ago, wandrr said:

You assume wrong. The "secondary flow" is a web site thing which is used when you select your booking number to reserve or pre-book dining or shorex and so on. Have a look at the URL when you click on a booking number. It changes to https://www.hollandamerica.com/secondaryFlow/home . HAL only knows why they do that, and why they would use a term in the announcement that should be internal for use only by their web developers. As many have said, HAL's web site leaves much to be desired...

I’d be interested in where on FB the original poster @richwmn saw this. I couldn’t find it on the HAL FB page so perhaps it was not a communication meant for passengers but rather some kind of internal notice.