Wayfairers

Thanks for this thread. We will be on Zaandam for 33 days this fall. Appreciate the detail of the posts. hopefully HAL will pay close attention to the fact that the smallest ship in their fleet has the most passengers…assuming that is because more passengers want to sail on the smaller ship not that HAL limited bookings on the larger ships.

Lots of questions… Did they book the flight with the cruise ship company? Did they book a transfer from the airport to the ship with the cruise company? if so, then they should be fine. If their flight is delayed or cancelled and they booked these with the cruise company my understanding is the cruise company will get them on board….they might miss a port though. Are they retired? If so, why put themselves through the stress of wondering if they are going to make it. Fly in the day before, stay at a hotel that has airport and cruise port shuttles, relax, have a nice dinner and leisurely breakfast before catching the shuttle to the ship. Their trip starts a day early.

We’ve hit a couple of ports in Turkey by cruise ship and were supposed to stop in Egypt on that cruise but those ports were cancelled due to security reasons. My suggestion would be take a land trip…you will have more time and be able to see so much more. If you don’t travel on your own, take a tour. Just go.

This isn’t Covid related. Our cruise got cancelled too. HAL bid for and won the contract to house refugees from the Ukraine. The info from my TA days until mid September.

I also got the cancellation notice from our TA today. Oh well, guess it wasn’t meant to be and although it is frustrating to start planning again because yet another trip fizzled we will now be returning back to the US via the VoV rather than flying so really better for us. We are spending about 3 months on the road and it was going to be mostly Europe….now it will be mostly US and Canada. C’est la vie. Now to remember how to update my signature!

Pre pandemic I’ve done this in Fort Lauderdale, FL and in Venice, Italy with no issues.

Any experience on what HAL does with the use by date on FCC when it is reissued after they cancel a cruise? Do they extend the date or keep the original one?

Personally, I will go with smart dinner attire for our July/August 28 day cruise. Cruises are always part of a longer trip for us and that cruise is part of a 3.5 month trip. We hope to travel with just a backpack (may have to add a small carryon suitcase, but going to try not to). Our dressy wear on board will be slacks/collared shirt for hubby and a black dress that hits slightly above my knees for me. That is what I will do, you should take whatever you want and enjoy wearing it….doesn’t really matter whether it is formal or dressy as long as you enjoy your evening.