Cajuntraveler

We have sailed on HAL 10 times and have had a priest on board every cruise except last January. We were told that HAL could not get a priest for the January cruise due to COVID concerns. HAL helped organize a daily gathering of passengers to pray together and read the daily mass. You can contact the Apostleship of the Sea Organization (aos-usa.org) to find out if a priest has been assigned to your cruise. Enjoy your cruise.

I emailed a request for shareholder OBC on 6/3/22. When I didn't get a response, I resent the request on 6/14/22. I still have not received any response. On previous requests, HAL was prompt with granting the credit. Other people on this site have reported recent quick turnaround.

After 10 cruises on HAL, DH and I did a 7 day cruise on Celebrity Equinox last month. We found many things that we preferred on X over HAL, but we were somewhat disappointed that almost all the live music was jazz. Only one group played anything other than jazz. We enjoy listening to live music in the evenings, but we do not care for jazz. We really enjoy HAL's music walk with a variety of music from classical, billboard on board , blues and rock. Is jazz the dominate music on all Celebrity cruises? We have booked another cruise on X for early 2023 and are considering switching our loyalty from HAL to X, but wondering how much we will miss HAL's music variety.

Last August DH and I were in isolation for 24 hours of our Alaska cruise. (Covid was suspected, but 2 tests came back negative.) After a week or so of returning home, I e-mailed HAL at World_Cruise_Reservations@hollandamerica.com, with the info on our cruise and date of isolation and asked for the FCC. Within 24 hours I received an e-mail apologizing for the oversite and confirming our FCC for the one cruise day missed.

HAL posted a new policy yesterday. Here is a section from FAQ: Guests embarking from a U.S. port that does not include Canada in the itinerary: All guests aged two and older who are up to date with their vaccines, i.e., received a booster if eligible, may take their antigen or PCR COVID-19 test within 3 days prior to sailing. If the sailing is on Saturday, the test may be taken on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, and as late as Saturday, if you are guaranteed to receive your results in time for check-in. If a guest is fully vaccinated but not up to date with their vaccines (i.e., is eligible for a booster but has not received one), they must take their pre-cruise COVID-19 antigen or PCR test within 2 days prior to sailing. The test may be taken on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

What did I do wrong? I sent a request for stockholder OBC for my November cruise on 6/3/2022. No response, so I resent the e-mail on 6/14/22. Still no response. In the past I have had a quick response. I sent the e-mail request to World_Cruise_Reservations@hollandamerica.com.