Caribbean Chris

On the question of the Form 7001 APHIS health certificate, my vet still issues the paper one for me. I just used it in April for a Caribbean cruise. here’s the form: https://www.aphis.usda.gov/library/forms/pdf/APHIS7001.pdf

Yes, I’ve sent in the form years ago (requesting a waiver of the fee for a service dog with proof included) and eventually got the permit in the mail. The next time, I sent it and never heard another word, so ended up faxing from my vet and finally got a return fax permit. My vet’s office had no legal-length paper in their fax, so I had it printed at my friend’s law office. I was tired of this hassle and have since always paid to use the Bahamas Pet Permit service. He is very reliable and organized, and hand-carries it to the government office. I plan to use him again for a Christmas cruise. He sends updates as to your application progress and emails a link. Then I can print the permit at home (believe it or not, I searched for & bought a printer with capability to handle legal length docs and paper. It has been worth it to me to pay the fee and regain more control versus sending off paperwork and never getting a reply, then having to scurry around. Note that you should allow plenty of time, at least a month, since the permit office itself gets backed up. A permit is good for one entry, for a year from date of issue.

NCTribeFan, thanks for the report, though I’m sorry it was a hassle-filled experience instead of hassle-free. Times have changed! There are so many anecdotal reports that numerous competent employees in service industries across the board were unemployed during Covid and decided to retire or moved on. Who could blame them? Now companies are understaffed and filled with inexperienced people who can’t or won't problem-solve. Appears to be the case here and with FlightEase, based on a recent flight issue we had. I think we’re all better off these days handling our own arrangements, and having plans B & C in mind.

I used it for a downtown Seattle hotel for a two night pre-cruise stay. I was very favorably impressed with the meet & greet rep, who found us in baggage claim with a sign, helped collect our luggage on a cart, and escorted us a distance to where the shuttle van awaited in a parking garage. At the hotel there was info at check-in on how to handle bags for the transfer to the ship. On sailing day, there was a.very professional person in the lobby organizing the bus departures. Couldn’t have been better. This was pre-Covid and I hope HAL still has the same great procedures. Since Seattle is their headquarters with thousands of passengers sailing out of that city every summer, that possibly may be the best managed of any port.

After making an early final payment for an October cruise, a couple of weeks later I went into the HAL website, looked at my reservation, got into FlightEase, and there was a button you could tap/click marked “request early ticketing.” It went through almost immediately, which made me happy. My flight record on AA showed “ticketed.” Not out of the woods yet. Recently I just happened to check my record on AA’s site (as I do about once a week) and my ticketed flights were changed mysteriously. No notice from FlightEase nor American then or since. Hiccups. We now have only a 50 minute connection to change flights in different terminals at PHL to proceed to Quebec City. By the way, this will be Saturday of the three-day Columbus Day weekend as well as Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. We’ve decided to call next week and insist on an earlier flight the same morning (seats are wide open) which will again restore for us (and our luggage) a more sane three hours to connect.

We bought HAL gift cards through AARP and received e-mails with attachments to print out that show a picture of a HAL gift card. It has the card number and a PIN number you must provide to use it whenever you redeem it, it advance or onboard.

We could be talking about different travel agencies. We always see whatever OBC we have on the big box TA’s confirmation which we can print out from our online account. (Shop cards for the booking, to be sent after the cruise, are also shown, but separately.) If we already have $100 OBC from an existing promo, for example, our confirmation info changes to $350 when our shareholder credit of $250 is confirmed by HAL. But that additional OBC is not identified on my big box confirmation as to the source. When we’re packing, I always bring along a copy of the shareholder email confirmation as a backup.

Have you tried logging into your big box Travel account and pulling up that reservation to check now and then? I’ve found that the dollar amount always appears immediately in my confirmations as soon as HAL issues it, as additional onboard credit. But it will just be the $$, not identified as “shareholder benefit.” The big box TA won’t notify you. That said, I do usually send my request to HAL by email (not fax) and get a reply confirming from HAL also by email.

I just refill mine from my room tap. HAL water has always tasted fine to me.

Interesting history, thank you so much. Brought back memories of touring the new Homeric at the pier in New York in early autumn 1986 with a group of travel agents. I was a sales rep with Royal Viking Line based in Washington, DC, and was along to lead the same group afterward for a tour and lunch on a Royal Viking Line ship that day before embarkation began.

It should read “disposable plastic bottles.” Many people use durable plastic refillables.

There’s always the buffet up by the pool.

The OP was on Rotterdam.

The app doesn’t show it (though it’s not a bad idea if they would add it). After you booked, whoever you booked with (a travel agency in person or online) or Holland America (by phone or online) must have given you a written confirmation, right? Sometimes it’s an attachment to an email. (This may be the invoices you mentioned but that detail should show up somewhere.) If you never got a confirmation, time to call whoever you dealt with.

No. According to the website’s Terms & Conditions, Have it All appears to be limited to Pinnacle, Tamarind or Canaletto depending on the ship’s restaurant offerings. Rotterdam has Pinnacle and Tamarind.

In case he doesn’t catch your response, I’ll confirm on Henry’s behalf that Zephyr is indeed one of about eight books he has written, including the most recent, “Traveling With Service Animals,” pre-pandemic..

I’m so sorry this happened- an awful way to start a vacation. Surely HAL will have to reimburse you. Were you able to get the same seats you thought you had purchased? I am curious as to whether you were able to previously enter all your personal information into the AA Record Locator. (Email address, passport #, AAdvantage #, Trusted Traveler #, emergency contact, etc.) Usually for American, passengers get an email 24 hours ahead to check in online for the flights and then will have a boarding pass to print and/or save on the phone. Not getting that email would have raised a red flag.

Do you have a HAL cruise booked? I wonder if that makes a difference in what is displayed. My Navigator app shows the number of days until I cruise, my itinerary with tours & specialty restaurant reservations, etc. But like VMax1700, I can’t find that screen at all. When I click a box about Have it All, it links to the HAL web page. It will be great if they make that change in policy!

I commend you for sharing this information to those who can benefit from a realistic portrayal of challenges faced as a caregiver or as a person with a disability. Cruising seems on the surface so much easier than independent touring but it still requires a large measure of energy and stamina. And that’s when things are going well - travel is presenting new challenges and frustrations with flight cancellations, lack of personnel, customer service issues and more.

We’ve booked many times when it was not “full,” and had early fixed dining on our booking paperwork from the start. If not, we always waitlist for our preference, sometimes eventually clearing it up with the maitre d’ after boarding.

We’re booked on the Nieuw Amsterdam’s Christmas cruise and were able to book Main dining online for 6 every night except of course for our specialty nights. Would have preferred early fixed seating but it was full. This seems like a good alternative, and I am hoping we’ll have the same table & waiters nightly.