Port of Kahului in Maui for the Grand

[jondfk]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

So 100% of the passengers need Internet access to do this in that 24 hour period.

 

a) For those who did not purchase Internet access, will Princess provide it free for this purpose?

b) Last time we were on Princess to Hawaii the Internet did not work much of the way across the Pacific including the day before reaching Hawaii. (However, the ship did not have MedallionNet technology at that time.)

 

Presumably yes (we will have to do the health form 24 hours ahead of arrival).

a) They'll have to do something, and they absolutely know how to do so because . . . 

 

b) We were on the last cruise on Grand to Hawaii - the one that landed us at Travis.  The cruise was not officially Medallion (no medallions issued) but did have Medallion class internet and VOD.  Internet access was very fast prior to lockdown and even supported streaming movies and the like.  Internet access was thrown open to all upon cabin lockdown, at which time it slowed to a crawl as everyone tried to get information from the outside world.  My point is, the internet service was good, and Princess can throw a switch to allow everyone access at least for the day required to complete registration.

 

The Safe Travels portal is a bit clunky in my opinion, we've travelled twice to Hawaii in 2021.  By clunky I mean every single adult needs their own individual account and has to enter their own details (flights, ships, hotels, etc) which is terribly redundant.  But that's what it is.

 

Finally, the last step in the process is a personal interview to review your uploaded documents.  We were able to do this at the airport prior to our flights from San Francisco.  It should be noted that this was NOT done by the airline but rather by representatives from the state of Hawaii.  Anyone who failed to do so were peeled off at the arrival airport to have their documents (in April this included PCR test, in October proof of vaccination) checked.  Folks cruising in January should expect this sort of clearance process.  The document review itself was quick, really just a check to make sure the documents matched the name of the passenger are were not obviously faked.  I expect this will be done upon arrival in Honolulu.  Even though it is quick, it will take hours to get through many hundreds of pax.  Perhaps they will allow Princess to do the document review, but I doubt it since they never empowered the airlines to do this on their behalf (or at least hadn't done so by October 17th).

 

[MishelleMcc]

1 hour ago, jondfk said:

 

Presumably yes (we will have to do the health form 24 hours ahead of arrival).

a) They'll have to do something, and they absolutely know how to do so because . . . 

 

b) We were on the last cruise on Grand to Hawaii - the one that landed us at Travis.  The cruise was not officially Medallion (no medallions issued) but did have Medallion class internet and VOD.  Internet access was very fast prior to lockdown and even supported streaming movies and the like.  Internet access was thrown open to all upon cabin lockdown, at which time it slowed to a crawl as everyone tried to get information from the outside world.  My point is, the internet service was good, and Princess can throw a switch to allow everyone access at least for the day required to complete registration.

 

The Safe Travels portal is a bit clunky in my opinion, we've travelled twice to Hawaii in 2021.  By clunky I mean every single adult needs their own individual account and has to enter their own details (flights, ships, hotels, etc) which is terribly redundant.  But that's what it is.

 

Finally, the last step in the process is a personal interview to review your uploaded documents.  We were able to do this at the airport prior to our flights from San Francisco.  It should be noted that this was NOT done by the airline but rather by representatives from the state of Hawaii.  Anyone who failed to do so were peeled off at the arrival airport to have their documents (in April this included PCR test, in October proof of vaccination) checked.  Folks cruising in January should expect this sort of clearance process.  The document review itself was quick, really just a check to make sure the documents matched the name of the passenger are were not obviously faked.  I expect this will be done upon arrival in Honolulu.  Even though it is quick, it will take hours to get through many hundreds of pax.  Perhaps they will allow Princess to do the document review, but I doubt it since they never empowered the airlines to do this on their behalf (or at least hadn't done so by October 17th).

 

Thank you for this excellent information!!  Merry Christmas!!!

[caribill]

1 hour ago, jondfk said:

 

  The document review itself was quick, really just a check to make sure the documents matched the name of the passenger are were not obviously faked.  I expect this will be done upon arrival in Honolulu.  Even though it is quick, it will take hours to get through many hundreds of pax.  Perhaps they will allow Princess to do the document review, but I doubt it since they never empowered the airlines to do this on their behalf (or at least hadn't done so by October 17th).

 

 

Another option could be to have someone representing Hawaii be aboard the sailing so the paperwork could be taken care of the day before reaching Hawaii.

[cr8tiv1]

Each time I’ve flown out of Long Beach to HNL, I’ve managed to be pre-cleared by Hawaiian Airlines ticket agent or gate crew.  in my opinion, Princess should be able to pre-clear passengers and give out those coveted wrist bands.  
 

I do expect delays upon arrival. 

I am wondering if this is why the first stop is HNL.

I am wondering why the arrival time has been pushed back.

 

This is a new procedure.  Thank you to team January 4 for being the adventurous ones to hammer out the process for all of us that follow.  
 

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou

[nocl]

2 hours ago, jondfk said:

 

Presumably yes (we will have to do the health form 24 hours ahead of arrival).

a) They'll have to do something, and they absolutely know how to do so because . . . 

 

b) We were on the last cruise on Grand to Hawaii - the one that landed us at Travis.  The cruise was not officially Medallion (no medallions issued) but did have Medallion class internet and VOD.  Internet access was very fast prior to lockdown and even supported streaming movies and the like.  Internet access was thrown open to all upon cabin lockdown, at which time it slowed to a crawl as everyone tried to get information from the outside world.  My point is, the internet service was good, and Princess can throw a switch to allow everyone access at least for the day required to complete registration.

 

The Safe Travels portal is a bit clunky in my opinion, we've travelled twice to Hawaii in 2021.  By clunky I mean every single adult needs their own individual account and has to enter their own details (flights, ships, hotels, etc) which is terribly redundant.  But that's what it is.

 

Finally, the last step in the process is a personal interview to review your uploaded documents.  We were able to do this at the airport prior to our flights from San Francisco.  It should be noted that this was NOT done by the airline but rather by representatives from the state of Hawaii.  Anyone who failed to do so were peeled off at the arrival airport to have their documents (in April this included PCR test, in October proof of vaccination) checked.  Folks cruising in January should expect this sort of clearance process.  The document review itself was quick, really just a check to make sure the documents matched the name of the passenger are were not obviously faked.  I expect this will be done upon arrival in Honolulu.  Even though it is quick, it will take hours to get through many hundreds of pax.  Perhaps they will allow Princess to do the document review, but I doubt it since they never empowered the airlines to do this on their behalf (or at least hadn't done so by October 17th).

 

Actually they do let the airlines verify the document that you get from the safe travels web site.

 

We have traveled on both United and Hawaiian.  In both cases we showed the document to the airline employee at check in, they attached a wrist band.  When we landed in Hawaii those with the wrist band just walked past the check point.  Those without the wrist band had to get checked.

 

We also had the safe travels form checked by each hotel we checked into.

[jondfk]

35 minutes ago, nocl said:

Actually they do let the airlines verify the document that you get from the safe travels web site.

 

We have traveled on both United and Hawaiian.  In both cases we showed the document to the airline employee at check in, they attached a wrist band.  When we landed in Hawaii those with the wrist band just walked past the check point.  Those without the wrist band had to get checked.

 

We also had the safe travels form checked by each hotel we checked into.

It's good to know, however this was not the case when we flew in October.  Document screening was done completely separately from the UA check in counter.  Yes, the state reps issued us wrist bands which were shown upon arrival to separate those who had been pre checked from unchecked.  It would be great to either have state reps aboard during the sailing or have Princess staff empowered to do the check.

 

I'm planning to do a Live From for the January 4th sailing (unless someone beats me to it) and will report our experiences.  I'm terrible with menu & food photo's and the like but will provide a narrative just the same.

[MishelleMcc]

17 minutes ago, jondfk said:

It's good to know, however this was not the case when we flew in October.  Document screening was done completely separately from the UA check in counter.  Yes, the state reps issued us wrist bands which were shown upon arrival to separate those who had been pre checked from unchecked.  It would be great to either have state reps aboard during the sailing or have Princess staff empowered to do the check.

 

I'm planning to do a Live From for the January 4th sailing (unless someone beats me to it) and will report our experiences.  I'm terrible with menu & food photo's and the like but will provide a narrative just the same.

Looking forward to it!!!  Merry Christmas!!!

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Each time I’ve flown out of Long Beach to HNL, I’ve managed to be pre-cleared by Hawaiian Airlines ticket agent or gate crew.  in my opinion, Princess should be able to pre-clear passengers and give out those coveted wrist bands.  
 

I do expect delays upon arrival. 

I am wondering if this is why the first stop is HNL.

I am wondering why the arrival time has been pushed back.

 

This is a new procedure.  Thank you to team January 4 for being the adventurous ones to hammer out the process for all of us that follow.  
 

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou

We’ve flown to Maui several times this year from LAX on HA, UA & AA and each time it was done by airline employees who issued wrist bands after checking ID & required documents to bypass additional screening upon arrival at OGG.

 

Mele Kalikimaka and Hau’oli Makahiki Hou 😎🏝

 

[azbirdmom]

12 hours ago, kiwimum said:

Our daughter was in Honolulu last week with her band at a large resort for an event.   Arrived Monday and left Thursday, fully vaccinated, tested negative on Sunday before leaving.  Monday after arriving home she and several of the band tested positive.   

 

Oh my, so sorry to hear this.  I hope that they all have no or at worst mild symptoms.