Jemima

1 hour ago, Sunflower & The Scientist said:

Can you cancel excursions when you are onboard if you decide you don't want to go?  

You can cancel some shore excursions onboard provided you are not past the cancellation deadline for that excursion.  You usually lose 10% or more cancelling onboard before the deadline.  

I just ordered from Optum.  They asked questions,but only my billing and shipping information, not who was taking the test.  I`d understood that the name was supposed to be specified, but wasn't.  Do I need to order Second 2 pack for my travel companion with her birth date (they do ask that)?

I don't think we can do the home test.  Does it require the tester to speak and to completely handle their swab?  If so, one of us can't do the test.

6 hours ago, SLC1954 said:

On the 2021 Pacific Costal cruises San Francisco has always been 2 days with an overnight. When Monterey was cancelled HAL added Avalon. At least this is what they did for the Koningsdam’s Oct 31 coastal.

Avalon, Monterey, Santa Barbara, one day in San Francisco, and Ensenada were the ports when we first looked at these cruises.  Monterey was removed and an overnight in San Francisco was added shortly before we booked in early July.  We're on the Nov. 7 cruise.

Santa Barbara hasn't been removed yet from the California Coastal itineraries.  Either HAL is hoping that Santa Barbara will reverse their decision or, much more likely, they haven't gotten around to changing the itineraries.  I check every day and Santa Barbara is still there along with shore excursions to book.

I sent our expedited renewals end of June and received passports end of July.  We also received our passport cards end of July and those were supposed to take longer.

Details are missing.  When exactly does the 72 hours begin?  What format of results is acceptable? Is an emailed result acceptable and, if so, can it just be on a phone or tablet or must it be printed?  What is acceptable medical observation of test?  (I do tend to worry and overthink things.)  

It doesn't mention Hawaii, Panama Canal, Caribbean, or South American.  We have a Dec. 2020 Caribbean booked, although there is a good chance we'll cancel if HAL doesn't.

Yes, if you want an item from the special vegetarian menu, it needs to be ordered the previous evening. I haven't requested the dinner "vegetarian menu" for years. If you are vegan, it would probably be a good idea, but insist on also seeing the regular menu for the following night also. I find that the veg items on the regular menu taste better and are more likely to appear at the same time as the rest of the table's food.

There will be a vegetarian entree on the menu each evening. It is usually vegan, but not always (I'm not vegan, so can't tell you how often it is vegan, but usually.) There is also sometimes a vegetarian pasta entree. There are usually 2 or 3 items in the Appetizer and the Soup and Salad categories that are vegetarian. Do read the menu description because occasionally the vegetarian symbol is placed incorrectly. That's in the dining room. In the Lido buffet dinner, they will have most of the dining room entrees, but occasionally the vegetarian entree won't be there or it isn't on display or they are treating it as a side item. There is usually also a pasta choice that is veg.

I usually eat in the dining room for lunch since they always have a vegetarian entree.

Also, we've found that the dining room stewards are much more likely to know if an item is vegetarian than the Lido buffet staff (who usually don't know).

Also, here on Cruise Critic non-vegetarians will sometimes tell you that there are lots and lots of vegetarian choices. You will be able to eat vegetarian, but don't expect lots and lots of choices or you will be disappointed.

We were also on the Christmas Oosterdam cruise and did not feel unsafe in any of the Mexican ports (Cabo, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta). We took HAL tours in both Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. We didn't have a tour in Cabo and didn't stay long, but that was because the area was too crowded with passengers (should have done a shore excursion).

We follow the World Cruise blogs every year and are delighted to have more than usual this year.

We had a wonderful Mexican Christmas cruise on the Oosterdam. The ship, the crew, the food, and entertainment were all excellent. We had a great time and, yes, we got off in all three ports. We felt safe in all the ports. We took tours in both Mazatlan (so so) and Puerto Vallarta (excellent) and should have taken one in Cabo.

It depends on the cruise. We book online to be sure of our preferred day and time.

Yes.

HAL guarantees are the same price as specific cabins. Guarantee cabins are booked at a specific level or category and HAL assigns you a cabin that is at that category or higher. Example: If you book a J guarantee and pay the same price as a specific J cabin. HAL will then assign you a cabin that is at the J level or higher. The cabin is usually assigned about a week or two before sailing, but occasionally it is assigned several weeks before or as close as embarkation day. We have always booked guarantees until our upcoming cruise. We've usually been assigned a cabin at a slightly higher category and have been happy with all our cabin assignments. Our upcoming cruise is the first specific cabin we've ever booked. It seemed best for this cruise, but most likely we'll go back to booking guarantees.

Different cruise lines have different guarantee practices. My post explains how it works with HAL. We've done 21 HAL cruises in a guarantee cabin, so I do know how it works with HAL.

For the 14 day Dec. 8 Veendam, final payment is due Sept. 24, but last day to cancel without penalties is Sept. 22 (Cancellation penalties begin Sept. 23). Just checked all of those on our cruise confirmation. We booked directly with HAL. We are possibly going to cancel, so I'm watching those dates.

The menus sometimes are changed or switched, so the week's menus would not be reliable. I used to get the menu on the previous evening so I could decide if we needed to order from the special vegetarian menu. A few times the menu was switched before the next dinner. They sometimes have to switch the menu to a different day or make a change in a menu.

...

Now, since in this case it was HAL who effectively 'canceled' the cruise, an argument could be made that the customer should not have to bear the expense. I believe HAL didn't call it a cancelation, but a change of itinerary.

Gets messy, doesn't it.

The old cruise and new cruise have different booking numbers. None of the ports are the same. The old cruise had 10 ports: Half Moon Cay, Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Martinique, Saintt Maarten, The new cruise has 7 ports: Cozumel, Costa Maya, Key West, Havana (overnight), Cienfuegos Cuba, Montego Bay, and Cayman Islands.

Also, while it looks like we are being slightly compensated by a fare reduction, that isn't so. The new fare is exactly the same as the old fare when divided by the number of days (14 days old cruise, 12 days new cruise). The new cruise is actually more when port taxes are included.

We did book this Veendam 14 day holiday cruise with a HAL PCC and no TA is involved. We did not receive any notice from HAL. We only received the confirmed booking with no mention of a change in the cover email.

We too were booked on this Veendam Caribbean holiday cruise. We too have not received a notice of the cancellation. They seem to be treating it as an itinerary change. We were emailed a revised booking confirmation on May 25. The email itself did not mention any change. ( "Attached is a summary of your booking, including deposit and payment details. If you have not made your deposit yet, do so now to secure your fare.Please review all attached documents carefully for accuracyIAs a valued MarinerSociety® member, we welcome you and thank you for once again choosing HollandAmerica Line." I was busy, glanced through the confirmation sheet, noted the fare was down, the port taxes were up, the start date hadn't changed, pre-cruise hotel was still there, same ship, final payment date the same, and nothing on this sheet to indicate anything major. I put it aside to check later if perhaps there had been a change in a port. I was floored yesterday when I scrolled down to the itinerary on the fourth page and found I was now on a Cuban cruise with entirely different ports and 2 days shorter.

We booked this cruise after the 2016 holidays because we specifically wanted a Christmas & New Year's cruise, wanted around 14 days (not back-to-back), and wanted ports of interest that were mostly new to us. 7 of the ports would have been new to us.

We cruise for the travel and the ports. The itinerary and seeing new ports is important to us. Cuban ports are NOT of interest to us. The other ports on this Cuban cruise are also not of interest. They are all western Caribbean, we've been to 2 of the 4 and aren't especially interested in the other 2.

While I'd prefer not to have big groups on my cruise, I have been part of a large group on two cruises. Neither cruise was on HAL. One cruise our group of several hundred was assigned to fixed seating in a portion of the dining room. The other cruise we had open seating with no group seating. I think that the assigned group seating worked better for both our group and for the other passengers. Most of us wanted to discuss genealogy at dinner. With open seating it was uncomfortable trying unsuccessfully not to discuss genealogy with "regular" passengers. I just think it is usually better for everyone for a large group to be seated together.

Subway and Rubio's. We have to go to both. If we get home in the afternoon, it is supper at one and then lunch the next day at the other. If we arrive home late, we do both the next day.

I think that there is a minimum amount for the credit card cash advances, but not sure.

We did this cruise this past July (July 2016) on the Maasdam and it was an outstanding cruise. There are Anchorage excursions, both HAL's and independent, that will go towards the Steward area. I personally prefer Steward to Anchorage, but then I prefer smaller places. There are a number of good activity choices in Anchorage and going out of Anchorage. We enjoyed all the ports on this cruise. We also had great weather for the whole cruise, but that's a matter of luck.

The cabin you selected should be ok. You will be close to an exit to the promenade and that should make up for the partial view from your cabin.

Travel insurance companies usually ask for the deposit date. That's the date you booked and made a deposit on a specific cruise. Several times I have cancelled a cruise, booked a new cruise, and transferred the travel insurance to the new cruise with the new deposit date and still had the pre-existing condition coverage show on the revised coverage.