Embarkation Day to Remember!

[Burrata]

Special shout out to the Fleet Report and the Daily! Enjoyed the posts very much!

 

Now to our story…

Sailed on the Zaandam, Montreal to Boston at the end of August. Very easy embarkation after arriving at the scheduled 1:20 pm time slot. Room keys already at our cabin, time to relax! Watched the safety video and had our key cards scanned, very easy! When we returned to our cabin, DH was complaining about something in his eye and tried rinsing it out. No luck! Our luggage had arrived by this time and I had some unopened saline that we hoped would take care of his eye. No joy! We knew it would be expensive to visit the medical center on the ship but DH was really miserable, not a great way to start a vacation.

 

Headed to the medical center when it opened at 3pm. After filling out forms and having a nurse take vitals, he met with the doctor. Doctor successfully removed a “seed” (that is what she called it), DH experienced instant relief and his vision was not affected. Hooray! Left with antibiotic drops and tried to guess the total cost. DH recovered very quickly and was 100% the next morning. Total bill= $511.42

 

This was our first time cruising on HAL. The staff was amazing! Really made the cruise. Our room steward was a gem. Meals were tasty for the most part but many of them could have been hotter. 

 

Loved: the Crow’s Nest and the Exploration Cafe! Our favorite spots. Also enjoyed walking or relaxing on deck 3. Other likes were Afternoon Tea, surprise items at the Lido (fresh cherries!) and meeting a  new people at breakfast.

 

Disliked: Tender process at Bar Harbour! Due to weather (very foggy) and how slow the ship has to travel, the ship was not cleared for disembarkation until 8:20 am.

 

We had booked an excursion from HAL that departed at 10am. Written instructions were in our cabin in advance about the process. The line was insane! We were in line at 8:30am as instructed to clear immigration and customs. DH and I heard a couple behind us complain about the line and how it was taking up their pool time! What?!?! If they had waited, oh maybe 30 minutes, it may not have been an issue. 

 

If you have mobility issues, can’t stand for long periods of time or are not a US citizen,  be prepared to wait. It would also help the process if those who were not planning to leave the ship or didn’t have anything booked, to wait a bit. 

 

We tendered in on the ship’s lifeboats and came back to ship via a larger local boat. All the confusion shouldn’t fall all on HAL but there has to be a better way for those who have excursions and/or mobility issues to clear immigration.

 

Overall, we enjoyed our time on this ship and the itinerary. We would book again on HAL if the right itinerary came along. 

 

Be safe, be well and happy cruising! 

 

[Mary229]

Thanks for the report.  You travel insurance should cover 100% of medical treatment.   If one ever looks at this home based insurance claims history one would see similar charges.  As a long time self insured I was shocked when I first joined Medicare and reviewed the claims.  My same doctor went from charging $75 for a visit to over $700!

[Burrata]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Thanks for the report.  You travel insurance should cover 100% of medical treatment.   If one ever looks at this home based insurance claims history one would see similar charges.  As a long time self insured I was shocked when I first joined Medicare and reviewed the claims.  My same doctor went from charging $75 for a visit to over $700!

Thanks for the information! Shocking what an office visit costs on land!

[albingirl]

That bill was highway robbery.  Not unusual, though.

[Sea42]

Just now, albingirl said:

That bill was highway robbery.  Not unusual, though.

Not really much more than Urgent Care would be on land.

[CruiserBruce]

What a medical provider charges is far from what they usually get paid.