Formal Nights on Repositioning?

[juliecat]

I finally received by docs today for the 4 day Vancouver to LA repositioning cruise September 29. Yes, the docs really arrived four days before departure; the HAL Seattle office sent them by DHL eight days prior to departure!

 

There is no mention of formal, informal, casual nights as there was in my docs for the last HAL cruise I was on. Can anyone advise on dress code? I know I can always pack four cocktail dresses and be OK, but if there will be formal nights I'd like to have my gowns.

 

Also, the docs state that the bags will transfer automatically from airplane to ship. Does anyone have any experience with this? Should I wait at the carousel just in case they appear?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer,

Julia

[Sprocket]

Last year on our Oosterdam repositioning cruise we had one formal night. DH wore his tux and I wore a black cocktail dress. Not everyone dressed up for dinner but those that did looked very nice.

 

Can't help with your other question as we booked our own air.

 

Bev

[Tricia724]

juliecat....I am boarding a repo cruise in LA that originated in Vancouver. There were people on our roll call board who were taking the 4-day segment from Vancouver to LA and they said that their docs listed 1 formal, 1 informal, and 2 casual nights. Can't guarantee that your cruise would be the same, but I think there's a good chance it would be similar. You never know what they're going to do with those informal nights....sometimes they have them and sometimes they don't....but I would bet on 1 formal night.

 

Can't answer your question about baggage with any certainty. If you booked your air and transfers with HAL....and they said the bags would arrive....they may have someone pull the bags and transport them to the ship.

 

I haven't done HAL transfers for years, but I remember that they used to have an arrangement at Fort Lauderdale to have bags with HAL tags on them automatically pulled and transferred to the ship. A lot of that changed after 9/11, and I'm not sure what the current practice is. Perhaps they have a similar program in place at Vancouver.

 

If you are in fact doing the HAL transfers, there will be a HAL representative at the airport and you can ask them about the baggage. I understand your concern because we all want to make sure that the bags get there for the cruise!

 

Have a great cruise!