NWFloriday

More CONS: Feeling like you are in limbo with this Standby program and not wanting to pay for and book another vacation until you hear you are cleared for this one or not. The inability to book and be placed on more than one Standby list for cruises leaving around the same time. I mean you can, but then you would lose all your money on one of the cruises if you got on the other one.

Bummer! I knew if you didn't get on we weren't getting on since you signed up before us. Although we were hoping we both got on and we could meet you! Maybe the key is to book Standby for less popular ports/cruises? We were thinking with all the colds and flus going around a lot of people would have to cancel but I guess not. Also, you are correct about the printed T&Cs on the booking receipt not specifying what type of cabin you would receive. I just remember the agent asking me if I understood this was for an interior room only with no ability to upgrade. So many inconsistencies with this program. I'm actually surprised when we called (less than 46 hours before departure) they didn't offer to cancel the booking for a full refund (because no cabins were available and because of the misrepresentation and inconsistencies in the program) and rebook and upsell us another cruise. I mean why would they not take the opportunity to sell their customer another cruise when they have them on the phone instead of leaving the customer disgruntled and owing them a refund?

I wanted to compile a list of PROS and CONS for this Standby Program. Feel free to add yours! PROS: 1. $49 pp/pd is a great deal for a lot of these cruises even for an inside cabin. 2. $49 pp/pd may apply to solo travelers and they do not have to pay a supplemental (from what I've read, could be wrong as T&Cs state the $49 pp/pd is based on double occupancy). 3. Possibility to get upgraded to a nicer cabin although the T&Cs say this program is for interior rooms only and when we booked this we were told by the agent that this was for a category N room only and there would be no upgrades. CONS: 1. Waiting to hear if you are cleared or not which could be 14 hours or less before departure and not being told that upfront. The T&Cs available to the public are not the T&Cs on the internal memo. 2. Dealing with customer service. 3. Not being able to apply any promotions i.e. stockholder benefit, AARP promotion, veterans promotion. 4. Not being able to prepay for WiFi and get the discount. 5. Not being able to book any excursions, spa services, or make dining reservations ahead of time. 6. Not knowing if you were actually receive the refund in 7-10 days. 7. I did not see a way to buy trip insurance through HAL for this program. So, getting trip insurance for this type of program is another issue I have. I know we can buy it through another company, but do we pay hundreds of dollars for trip insurance for a trip that isn't confirmed? 8. Packing for a cruise and being ready to go only to have the booking canceled. 9. Booking or prepaying for hotels, parking, outside tours/excursions/rental cars etc. only to have to cancel at the last minute. So make sure what you book is fully refundable.

We got an email that said nothing about the Standby Program. The title of the email was, "Attn: Booking Confirmation" and I got excited thinking we were finally confirmed. It was only when I opened the attachment I saw that the booking had been canceled and we would incur 100% penalty for the cancellation. Meaning no refund. I called and they said yes we would receive a refund within 7-10 days because there was no availability on the ship. I explained this is not what the cancellation notice says and we did not cancel, she assured me we would be refunded. Honestly, I will be surprised if we are refunded as we have nothing in writing saying so, the only thing we have in writing is that the booking was canceled and we will receive no refund. Now we have to wait to see if we will even get a refund after waiting to see if we get on the cruise. Unfortunately we did not buy trip insurance as we were waiting for confirmation of the trip.

If that's how the program works then they need to clearly say that on their website and on the booking receipt. I can't imagine that very many people could get a call 90 minutes before departure and make it on time and who's going to show up without being cleared hoping to get on? Crazy!!

I just finished a "chat" with one of the agents and was told we would be notified 1 day prior to embarkation. Knowing that we may only get one day notice or less we would not have signed up for this program. They need to change the wording on the program as it seems to be extremely misleading. Very disappointed and am envious of the people who got 48 hours notice ;).

Thank you for your kind sympathy. He did quarantine for the 2 days and we ordered room service. It wasn't bad since we had a balcony and I could sit outside and read. We live in Florida so I drove straight home (7.5 hr drive). So, we got home around 4pm on Saturday. I read the other covid positive people would be assisted with transportation to a hotel where they could continue to quarantine until negative. Thankfully, we didn't have to do this and could drive straight home.

Lol, did you take pictures of everyone getting off the ship this way? We were supposed to be escorted off at 7:30am but they were late because they had several other sick people to get off. On day 3 of the cruise I knew there was covid on the ship because I was told by a crew member that her coworker was in quarantine. I did not get covid but my husband got it the last 2 days on the ship. We still had a great vacation except for the last 2 days. Hopefully you stayed healthy!

*disembarkation

It was the best embarkation ever, did not have to go through customs and got to leave before everyone else! I'm saving this picture of my husband and I thanks!

You can email Mark here marcogm2650@gmail.com he will quickly respond to your inquiry. We just had a private tour with him on February 2nd and would highly recommend him.

You can email him here marcogm2650@gmail.com he's extremely prompt in his replies. We just had a tour with him February 2nd and he was an excellent driver/tour guide.