Alberta Quilter

When did you purchase your FCD's? I have some that were purchased before the benefits were reduced in Jan/20, and I was told that the OBC benefits that were in place at the time of purchase will stand. So I'm keeping them. My only concern is HAL's continued solvency.

You might want to read this thread:

The world cruise was supposed to be about four months long. It started in early January and had just passed the halfway mark when the cancellation was announced.

I've not heard about this before but my guess is that maybe they're cancelling by port rather than by booking. For example, maybe they're doing all shorex in Puerto Vallarta before gong on to Mazatlan, or San Juan before Saint Thomas. So if your other two excursions are a few days after the ones that were refunded, I would give them a few more days before calling. But that's a total guess on my part.

I would be getting on the phone with the big box TA pronto! I have found that they don't forward emails from HAL but then I'm not affected by this pause so don't know if they would in this situation. Good luck!

Last week, I cancelled my July cruise on which I had made a partial payment; final payment date was early April. I got all of my money back. As long as the final payment date has not passed for your friend's cruise, she should get all of her money back. Just read Charlene's response and totally agree. Fare must be refundable to get her money back. Couldn't tell you what would be the case if she booked under a non refundable fare.

Please see post #8 in this thread. This was so easy to do on one's own that it would be a shame to pay for cruise line tours.

Cruising. Seth Wayne was on our NS cruise a couple of weeks ago. I'm not on Facebook/Twitter etc so don't know what is being posted there. Eventually there is expected to be a link on the HAL website but it will be some time down the road, we were told.

When we boarded on Feb 16/20, in FLL, the questionnaire had two questions. There may have been a third if one of the answers to the questions was a Yes. The two questions were Have you travelled to China, Macau (and a couple of other places that I can't recall) within the last 20 days? and Have you been exposed to someone with Coronavirus? I'm sure you'll be fine but agree with the advice to take OTC meds with you to minimize the symptoms.

Binoculars are not available in standard Verandah cabins. I believe they are available in suites, though.

I believe they did just post the notification of the breach that occurred last year as you note. I didn't see that notification this morning when I checked on the coronavirus update and another poster above confirmed that it was not there this morning.

I was on the HAL website this morning and checked out the Coronavirus updates as well as some other things. Just now, I went back to the HAL website and noticed another notification about a "privacy event" (right below the Coronavirus updates): https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/news/public-notice-privacy-event.html I don't believe this notification was there this morning. Anyway, I wanted to bring it to everyone's attention so that they can monitor their credit scores as recommended by HAL.

I ordered flowers onboard two weeks ago (NS) and had no issues. The arrangement lasted two weeks but did look a little sad at the end.

Just got home from a Caribbean cruise where someone spoke to another person via speaker in the Lido (by the pool) at breakfast! I could not believe it! They had a grand chat!

Well, I apparently over thought this! Really, this was extremely easy to do on one's own. I had prebooked a historical tour for 1:45 pm. We docked on time and the ship was cleared at 11 am. We left the ship at about noon. We were docked at Pier 4 and it took us about ten to fifteen minutes to walk to Pier 2 (one of us is a slow walker). We just made the ferry that left before 12:30. The fare is $0.50/person but there are reduced or free fares for seniors depending on age. The ferry ride took only about ten minutes (including the time to tie up to the dock). It was a very short ride. As we exited the ferry terminal, there were white taxi vans waiting to take people to Casa Bacardi. For groups of 1 to 4 people, the taxi fare was $12. With five people or more, the fare was $3/person. The taxi ride was fairly short and dropped us off a short distance away from the Welcome Centre. There we checked in. It was now about 12:50 pm. We were allowed to join the 1:15 tour since we were early and there was room available. We each received a pager to notify us when to meet for the tour and were given a token to get our free cocktail. We got our cocktail and had enough time to consume it before the tour started but some brought their drink on the tour. We boarded a tram that drove us in a circle on the property and the guide pointed out some of the buildings and equipment used in process. A very short ride! The remainder of the tour took place in Visitor Centre where we watched a short film on the history, and then walked through staged displays of the distillation process and smelled the bases of the different rums they make. The final stop was at a "bar" in which the guide explained the different rums, three for cocktails and three sipping rums. As all tours tend to do, this one ended in the gift shop. The entire tour took 45 minutes from start to finish. Afterward shopping a bit, we headed back to the taxi stand in the parking lot to wait for a taxi. I think we waited only about ten minutes for one to arrive. As there were only the two of us at the time, the driver suggested waiting for others to make the fare more economical. Five minutes later, two more people came along so it cost us each $3. He drove us back to the ferry terminal, and we got our ferry tickets. (BTW seniors who travel at a reduced or free rate still need a ticket.) We had to wait for the next ferry but it was not a long wait. Upon our return in OSJ, we strolled along the waterfront, checking out the artisan stalls, making our way back to Pier 4. I believe we got back to the ship about 3 pm. The tour was good but not great. Given that the cost was $15 and included a beverage priced at $8 if one was to purchase a drink there, the tour was really only $7. I think as long as one has reasonable expectations, one will be satisfied with the value of the tour. I would come back to Casa Bacardi but would do another tour next time. For the two of us, our total cost, not including our shopping, was US$43.50 ($30 tour, $12 taxi and $1.50 ferry (I paid for the senior on the way over but not on the way back)). The cost of the ship tour was US$74.95/person (which also included a self guided visit of San Cristobal Fortress).