cartervan

Hurray and hallelujah! We just got a check from Holland America to reimbursement us for our hotel and meals when we got COVID in Alaska in the summer of '22!  What a long hard struggle!  First we tried and tried to get our travel insurance to pay what they owed.  It wasn't a fly-by-night company we found on the internet, either.  It was recommended (and still sold) by our on-line travel agency, but turned out to be worthless.  So then we turned to HAL to ask for what was promised us, and started jumping through their hoops. All these months later they finally came through!!  I am so sorry that the cruise lines all had to suffer hard times during the worst of COVID, and they did take care of us, although they put us up in a very basic hotel room in Anchorage that was charging $400 a night (which they promised to reimburse us for.)  Well, finally, they did!! I just wanted to let those who are still waiting for their checks to not give up hope.

Oh wow--I should have realized that we were not the only ones dealing with all this COVID reimbursement hassle!  We also were on an Alaska Land/Sea cruise in July of 22, and, just like another person's story, got as far as Denali before my husband tested positive for COVID.  After two days in isolation at the lodge we were bussed back to Anchorage where we were put up in a (supposedly $400 a night) hotel room with kitchenette but no nearby restaurants in an industrial part of town, and told to order food from Walmart. However, HAL gave us the (apparently standard) letter saying we would be reimbursed for meals and for the cost of the room. Since we did have travel insurance, we first applied for what they were supposed to pay.  I won't go into all the painful details of the year-long struggle with insurance (which turned out to be worthless--our lawyer says it's a clear case of fraud) and with HAL.  No reimbursement yet. We have twice mailed in all the required paper work. ( The first time HAL says they never received it). After I pushed for it, we did get Cruise Credit posted to our account, and so booked another cruise for February to cash in on that.  However, in our continuing efforts to get what was promised us, HAL suddenly decided that only half of our Cruise Credit was owed to us and added another $900 or so to what we owe for our February cruise!! Hours and hours on the phone. Dozens of e-mails and letters. Unbelievable! 

I always wear my card on the kind of lanyard that needs to hook into a hole in the card.  In 18 or more cruises I think I've only gotten a "prepunched" card once or twice.  I usually go right to the passenger service desk and ask them to punch it and they are happy to do it.

I'll just add one thing to all the comments above: the fries at the Dive In!!

It's been awhile since I've been looking at Cruise Critic, but we recently booked a Caribbean cruise on the Zaandam in February so I'm back on getting info.  I was shocked to see a few references to the contract with Lincoln Center being cancelled!  Someone in a review remarked that the "Lincoln Center Stage" on their Alaska cruise was being used for art auctions. Oh, please, say it isn't so! One of our favorite things to do on any HAL ship is to sit and listen to music before or after dinner.  On our Alaska cruise last summer there was standing room only for all the performances. Does anyone know any news about this?

We went on an Alaska cruise last July after having had knee replacement surgery the middle of April.  We had been to Alaska about 10 years ago when my right knee was starting to act up. When we got to Katchikan on that trip my knee hurt too much and I opted to stay on board rather than go out and walk around that pretty little town.  When I saw the pictures my husband took I felt bad that I hadn't gone.  So this time, after replacing the left knee, when the therapist asked what my goal was I said I wanted to "Walk all over Katchikan!"  So I did!  

We were on the Noordam for a Alaska Cruise/Land Tour at the end of June into July.  We enjoyed the cruise, and saw little evidence of COVID during that week. But on the 3rd day of the land tour my husband started getting cold symptoms at the McKinley Lodge, and just as a precaution got tested. POSITIVE!  We were sent back to our room where we stayed for three days. Then we got a call that we were being transferred to Anchorage.  We were shocked to find that there was an entire big bus full of people being sent to a hotel in Anchorage to quarantine!  Apparently many of them were just finishing up a land tour and getting tested before beginning the cruise portion of their trip. All of those people had tested positive that day or the day before!  I still didn't have any symptoms at that point, but being on that bus kind of sealed the deal for me I guess.  I tested positive the day we finally got home.

They must be sending it out kind of randomly.  We were on the Zuiderdam in October and have an Alaska cruise on the Westerdam booked for July, but we haven't received any surveys.

Both wonderful itineraries. So do one this year, and the other next!  I do go along with what most people are saying--go to the Baltic first.

We were just on the Zuiderdam where we had an unexpected extra "sea day" because of a cancelled port. We ended up watching "Crazy Rich Asians" in our stateroom and enjoying it a lot.  Free movies on demand--very nice.  There seemed to be a pretty extensive selection.

I was very interested in your review because we were on the same cruise with you.  Funny thing--I also had problems with my "sea pass" card the first time I tried to use it. My picture did not show up--only a "blank wall" they said!  It was kind of annoying to have to go stand in line at the passenger service desk when all I wanted to do was unpack and settle in.

Was there a second Mariners Reception?  We missed the first one because it was over before we boarded, which I thought was disappointing--not many "perks" for three-stars really.

Oh well, we enjoyed our cruise very much. All the ports were wonderful.  There was a lot of "tendering", but I thought it was handled very efficiently.  I plan to write my own review soon.

Keep up your interesting reports!  Enjoying your perspective.

Happy anniversary MAMAOFAMI, and thank you for your "live" reporting.  I am very interested in your posts because we, too, are boarding in New York on September 27! ( SJSULIBRARIAN - I haven't seen your name on the Roll Call.  You should join us.  We have a Meet and Mingle set for Sunday, Sept. 29 at 11 in the Billboard Onboard area.)

Crazy For Cats--thanks so much for posting that!  We took a Norway Cruise on the Koningsdam a year ago and thoroughly enjoyed seeing that "review" of our trip along with all the inside info.

We also are Trivia players from way back--but recently the biggest threat to enjoyment of the game is Google.  We pointed out to the CD on a recent cruise (not HAL, by the way) that some teams had cell phones out and were looking up answers.  His reply was basically--oh well, it's just for fun.  But what's the "fun" in that?!  And speaking of cheating--we were on another cruise where the team sitting at the bar always got everything right (the bar tender was giving them the answers!)  We've also been playing when well-meaning "passers-by" would lean in and give us an answer.  Completely ruins the game!  No wonder they've quit giving out real prizes.

We've been fortunate enough to travel a lot and our friends always ask us which places are our favorites.  We never can come up with a definitive answer. We've been to every U.S. state at least twice and we have a beautiful country.  But since we retired (nearly 20 years ago) we've visited about 40 countries --mostly thanks to cruising.  We've enjoyed every place we've been.  But I think the stand-outs from all the cruises is Australia-New Zealand (HAL Statendam); trans-Atlantic and back to back Mediterranean (HAL Noordam); the Baltic (on Celebrity Constellation); and Norway (HAL Koningsdam)....oh, and the British Islands, and Alaska and the Caribbean..... Did I mention that we loved them all?

The review I wrote about our April/May Rhapsody cruise has just been "published" in the Cruise Critic Review section.  I avidly read all the Rhapsody reviews in anticipation of our cruise, so I felt like I should add my impressions for others who want to know what to expect, or compare my opinions with theirs.

We just got home from a lovely TA/Mediterranean cruise on RCI. In one port we were docked right next to the Veendam, and looking across at that familiar "black bottom" and wrap-around deck I had the oddest feeling of nostalgic "homesickness" for Holland America.  We are 3-star Mariners but we've sailed on several different lines--usually choosing our cruises by itinerary and how it fits into our schedule. We always enjoy ourselves whatever cruise line we are on but there is just something special about the ambiance aboard a Holland American ship that we miss when we're on some other ship.

We just got back from 21 days on the Rhapsody starting in Tampa with an April 27 TransAtlantic back to back with Barcelona to Venice.  We've been on many cruises--mostly on Celebrity and HAL as well as NCL and Carnival, but this was our first time on RCI.  We choose our cruises for itinerary and price and this one fit that criteria, hitting several  ports that were new to us  and ending up in Venice where we had never been.  The crossing was smooth and we were blessed with beautiful weather most of the time.  Overall we had a wonderful time and I want to write a longer review when I get the laundry done, the garden weeded and the house dusted.  But in the meantime just a few quick comments on some of the things we liked and disliked.  We really liked the food, and the way the Windjammer is arranged.  The crew was wonderful.  We went to almost all the shows and enjoyed them all, as well as all the live music all over the ship.  We realize that the Rhapsody is not typical of all the glitzy mega ships in the RCI fleet, but it is a beautiful ship and very well maintained.  We did have a few things that we were not so thrilled with. On the TransAtlantic portion of the trip there were many activities, but we were disappointed that there were no lectures on the history of the areas we were going to visit.  There were interesting talks on "forensics" (?) and astronomy--but nothing about Spain or the Mediterranean.  In fact, there was not much help or friendly tips on the ports at all unless you were going on official Ship Excursions.  I thought there could be better use of the venues.  For instance, the "Shall We Dance" lounge is a lovely, comfortable spot--but mostly used for art auctions and bingo, while the popular Trivia games were mostly in the Schooner bar which is a noisy and busy hallway, basically.  And I liked the Royal Crown area a lot, but for the whole TransAtlantic it was largely taken over by Diamond+ overflow.  In fact we were told that we could not stay there when we went up to the bar to take advantage of an advertised special price on martinis.  Why have a special price on a drink in a place you cannot sit and enjoy it!? Anyway--more comprehensive review to come.  If you have any questions I'd be happy to answer.

Thanks for your review!  We were on the May 11 Mediterranean cruise with you and I am just getting ready to post my own quick reactions along with a longer review later when I get time. It is interesting  to see another perspective.  I also really enjoyed the parade of flags--really special.  I agree that overall the food was wonderful. But we went to almost all the shows and thought they were very entertaining.  Different strokes for different folks!

;You're probably going to get a lot of replies from people like me who go back and forth between Celebrity and Holland America and enjoy the best of both. One of the things Holland America is known for is the "all the way around" outdoor promenade although the Koningsdam has made it a little less spacious. No smoking allowed. Unfortunately, you will find smoke in the casino. I think the Lido buffet on all the HAL ships is very good, and very much like the ones I have found on Celebrity ships. We were most recently on the Koningsdam which has pretty much eliminated self-service, but it certainly seems much more sanitary, and is handled very efficiently. I'm not sure if all the ships have gone away from self-service. And speaking of service, we have found friendly, cheerful and attentive staff on all HAL ships. If you like Celebrity, you will most certainly like Holland America.

As I recall, the tour was listed as having a moderate activity level with quite a bit of walking involved. We can and do walk a lot. But this girl really outran us (a lot of us). And we did try to yell at her, but she was so far ahead she couldn't hear us.

This was the worst example I can think of when we've had fast walking tour guides. But it does happen, often.

The thing that was most alarming about that particular excursion, however, was the fact that she really didn't give enough time for people to make their way back to her meeting point. She did wait for about 10 minutes then left them behind.

I was just reading a post about pay toilets, and someone talked about about being on a ship excursion in Bruges where the guide moved so fast it was hard to keep up. I didn't want to hijack that thread, but it reminded me about the number of times we've been in that situation. We are "senior citizens" who try to keep active and do a lot of walking. But we can't move as fast as a 20 something guide. And there are always several other older people in the same boat. Once in Pisa we had a long distance from the bus parking lot into the walled old city. We practically ran. Then, after our tour we only had a short break to take pictures, then were to meet outside the wall. We almost didn't make it back in time, and then the busload took off at a trot back to the bus behind our flag-waving guide. Once we got on the bus the guide remarked casually that "almost everyone" was there. She went on to say that it "happened every time". Didn't that tell her something!?! When some of us protested, worrying about the people left behind, she assured us that they could take a taxi or something to get back to the ship on their own! Of course, we complained to HAL, but I doubt if anything changed.

A few years ago I was on a ship excursion to a small town in Italy where we were directed to a public toilet during a very short "free time". For some reason I didn't check my coin purse, and after standing in line for "my turn" I suddenly discovered I didn't have the required Euro coin. A kindly fellow passenger loaned me the money. Fortunately my husband had a coin to pay her back once we got back on the bus. Then this summer I had a chance to "pay it forward" in Norway when a mom with a little child discovered she didn't have money for the toilet.

We ate at the Culinary Arts Center while on the Koningsdam in July. We thought it had a very unusual menu. We sampled several things to share, and it was all good. I liked it better than my husband, who is a kind of "meat and potatoes" kind of guy. The service was very good with a light-hearted approach. We had an enjoyable time. It was not crowded at all, and, in fact, it never seemed to be very busy as we walked past each evening.