Holland America Line Launches New Electronic Cruise Documents

[mamadot]

We were surprised to get our little blue packet last week for our May 14 departure. I thought it would all be Edocs. I never use any of that stuff or the blue packet as I have a soft leather one but I must admit I do feel some excitement when it arrives!!!

[sizzle_sisters]

Cruise documents??:eek: I must be a cruise virgin, I've never received real cruise documents, always e-docs. Whenever I read that so and so line was switiching to e-docs I've scratched my head. I've cruised RCCL, Carnival, Celebrity,Princess and e-docs all the way........... Darn it I want some souveniers!!:rolleyes:

I love control over my vacation, but hate the nerves when I worry about puter failure, printer running out of ink etc. I'm not computer savy, but can handle the basics, but there are quite a few people out there that really don't own one, or are nervous handling their big ticket cruise papers.

I never used a boarding pass kiosk at the airport til last Nov. (had to peer over the shoulder of some young guy and watch him do his....:eek: almost led to a fight! ):rolleyes:

[iancal]

We like edocs. We just finished a cruise on another line. Everything was edocs, including, much to my surprise, luggage tags. The latter were printed at home and we had to fold them over a few times and staple them at embarkation. I was a little skeptical of the tags. But everything went very well. On past cruises, much of the the paperwork and folders that were mailed or courriered went straight to the bin...we did not need them and we were not about to travel with them. Edocs is a way to reduce cost as well as increase efficiency.

[airlink diva]

I think that HAL needs to give cruisers the option on this. I'm sailing on Carnival in early May. On their website when you sign online for the cruise,you are given the option of either e-documents (with tutorial) or paper.

Since HAL is under Carnival,they also need to do this for all of their cruisers.

Frankly, either one is find with me. When you check in for sailing,if you have the paper documents, they only pull one or two pages out. This is a waste of paper. What HAL could do is have a recyle bin in the area after checking in to place the remaining paper in a bin.

[InTheWASide]

I think that HAL needs to give cruisers the option on this. I'm sailing on Carnival in early May. On their website when you sign online for the cruise,you are given the option of either e-documents (with tutorial) or paper.

Since HAL is under Carnival,they also need to do this for all of their cruisers.

Frankly, either one is find with me. When you check in for sailing,if you have the paper documents, they only pull one or two pages out. This is a waste of paper. What HAL could do is have a recyle bin in the area after checking in to place the remaining paper in a bin.

 

There is the option. Did you read the press release?

[esther e]

I'm all for the e-docs. When our paper docs come, everything goes into the trash: Mariner buttons, plastic blue folder, etc., and only the "necessary" info comes in my handbag. I hate carrying more than I need.

 

Now, another thought: since you can disembark by 7:30 (if you drive) and can manage your own luggage, it's another perk for packing light.

 

As far as filling our the luggage tags, in our case while my husband is parking the car I can be writing our name, etc. on those tags. No big deal for us.

 

As a side note: the only worthwhile doc folders were from Regent. They are ultra-suede "bags" and can be used as shoe keepers. Yeah, I know, we're paying for them. But those I keep.

[Sundagger]

This is certainly not a momentous post, but ... I fall in the category that is among the first to receive e-docs. But today I received the traditional blue folder full of "stuff" to read and get me excited about the cruise. I will miss getting the folders in the future, but it's not a big deal to me. Trays are.

 

Maybe they have a supply of blue folders and pretty luggage tags to use up.

[twinkletoes4445]

I don't care if I get our docs mailed prior to our cruise, but I do see it being a pain filling out the luggage tags when you get to the port. I may print the info on a peel and stick note paper prior to leaving and then just attach it to the front of the tag (once we arrive at the port and receive our luggage tags). It would be nice if we could somehow get the luggage tags prior to sailing. I'd pay to have those mailed to me in advance.

[Jenbo57]

It's called progress, people...embrace it! Trutfully, when I booked our HAL cruise a month ago, I couldn't believe what I couldn't do from the website! Every other cruiseline out there allows you to review your reservation, change your stateroom, etc., but not HAL! I e-mailed them about this, and their tech department said changes are in the works -- hurray! I can only assume that the whole e-documents thing is part of the new process. Good news!

 

The self-printed luggage tags (if they're the same one Carnival uses) are fabulous! Pre-printed with all of your pertinent info already on them (booking #, sailing date, deck #, stateroom #, etc.); all you do is write your name on them and you're good to go. We print ours out on Avery 8-1/2" x 11" label paper, follow the folding instructions, and they're done! Wrap them through your luggage handle, staple or tape the ends, and those babies aren't going anywhere!

 

No worries folks...it's a piece of cake!

[DizzyDallasDi]

Even though this thread has been going on since what seems like the beginning of time, I finally caved and clicked into it to see what the dam discussion was all about. I simply don't get it.

 

E-docs are so easy. Those of you who have been sailing on HAL for eons surely don't need the "need to know before you go" booklet or any of the other worthless pieces of paper. You are clearly internet savvy because you're on here so I know you can figure out how to print your boarding pass. Every port has room tags for your baggage.

 

Sheesh...this thread is unbelievable!

 

Diane

[ranles]

Only read three pages of this post, but it seem that using you return address labels would work well for "filling out" the tags. Just add your room number when you do it. We take these with us on all travel, as filling out name and address comes up a lot, and is convenient to give others, if they want to get in touch with you after the cruise..just add e-mail.

[jhannah]

Maybe they have a supply of blue folders and pretty luggage tags to use up.

I thought this at first, too. But somewhere it was noted that the Grand cruisers and Alaska Cruisetour cruisers would still get the packets due to the large amount of extra information necessary.

[Divi]

We were very surprised to receive our lovely blue folder today for our May 20th Prinsendam cruise.

Definitely brightened the day!!:D

[LoyHAL]

Only read three pages of this post, but it seem that using you return address labels would work well for "filling out" the tags. Just add your room number when you do it. We take these with us on all travel, as filling out name and address comes up a lot, and is convenient to give others, if they want to get in touch with you after the cruise..just add e-mail.

 

Great idea, ranles! I'm making a note to do this on our next trip.

Thanks,

LoyHAL

[pms4104]

I understood from the press release that paper docs still would be available should passengers wish them, and I was curious as to whether there would be a fee for them.

Emailed HAL the other day, and here is the pertinent part of the response I received today: If a guest elects to change from Express Docs to traditional hard copy documents there will be a $25 USD per booking processing fee for requests inside of 60-days prior to travel.

I hope this info is helpful to anyone not planning to go the e-docs route.

[arlenez]

The Fed Ex man brought our docs today for our May 19th cruise. I was surprised to receive them as I expected that we would have to print out e-docs, so we're doing the doc dance tonight!

 

Regards,

Arlene

[RevNeal]

The next big item being auctioned on eBay: HAL document folders .....

 

I've got a huge supply ... both the old leather ones and the newer blue ones.

I still use them to hold all my travel documents, and may continue to do so even after physical docs are a thing of the past.

[RevNeal]

Filling out the online express boarding pass is all well and good, but there's something about holding the little booklet with the tickets, the legal-fine print, etc., that I miss.

 

Now, of course, no one will even have a "Know Before You Go" booklet to read. Since so few bothered to read it before, I'm sure it won't be missed.

 

Dress code? What dress code?

Gratuity charge? What gratuity charge?

Passport? Who said we needed a passport????

[jtl513]

Now, of course, no one will even have a "Know Before You Go" booklet to read.

Supplies of those and luggage tags could be sent to TAs to be passed out as needed ... but I'm sure many would not do so, just as they don't send the pouches now.

[RuthC]

This is a little silly, but the one thing I'll miss most is the little perforated cards with the info on how to reach the ship in emergency. I leave that with my neighbor (the one taking care of the cat and the house), and have a feeling of confidence.

Now I won't know if I'm not hearing from her because everything's all right, or because she doesn't have the #. :rolleyes:

[KAYEF]

I haven't read ALL of these pages yet, but I booked the PanPacific Hotel in Vancouver so my s-i-l would only have to take the elevator down to the ship.

NOW, we won't be able to send our luggage down with the hotel personnel because it won't have tags, huh?

Darn!:(

[KAYEF]

I understood from the press release that paper docs still would be available should passengers wish them, and I was curious as to whether there would be a fee for them.

 

Emailed HAL the other day, and here is the pertinent part of the response I received today: If a guest elects to change from Express Docs to traditional hard copy documents there will be a $25 USD per booking processing fee for requests inside of 60-days prior to travel.

 

I hope this info is helpful to anyone not planning to go the e-docs route.

 

How do you let them know you'd prefer the traditional documents? I'm taking my s-i-l on her first cruise and I want her to experience the excitement of those documents being delivered (yes, I love them;)). We sail June 5th so we don't have much time to "order" them.

Thanks.:)

[pms4104]

How do you let them know you'd prefer the traditional documents? I'm taking my s-i-l on her first cruise and I want her to experience the excitement of those documents being delivered (yes, I love them;)). We sail June 5th so we don't have much time to "order" them.

Thanks.:)

Suggest you notify your T/A or HAL, depending which one you used to make your booking, and make your desires known. Likely the ideal time to make the request would be at final payment time, but you are past that point, I believe.

[mancunian]

I'm a bit confused. Some people seem to have received postal documents in the usual way. So I looked back to the first post in this thread and read it again. It seems to say that you request the edocs, not the postal docs. How does anyone else read that?

[chloes nana]

I'm a bit confused. Some people seem to have received postal documents in the usual way. So I looked back to the first post in this thread and read it again. It seems to say that you request the edocs, not the postal docs. How does anyone else read that?

“Guests who still prefer paper

documents can request full cruise documentation and tickets to be

mailed.”

sounds to me like you need to request the paper docs;)