lderochi

I am surprised at how disjointed the process was. You would think that dealing with positive cases would be the one thing that they would have trained endlessly on. But there was so much miscommunication and lack of communication. my wife remains negative, she has been self testing.

Off the boat at 11. The shuttle they arranged apparently had separate buses for positive cases and their companions, so that’s good. Still, it was just too last minute, and I had already arranged another ride. They had me on a list of the positive cases as they checked my name off. It was a long list, just FYI.

Things went pretty sideways today. Still sitting and waiting to disembark at 10:45, and that’s the least of it. When guest relations offered to arrange a private car to Seattle, I specifically asked if they would be okay knowing I tested positive 3 days earlier. They said yes, as long as I was masked. But the service called me this morning and cancelled. So now guest relations tells me they have arranged a shuttle for me (and I guess other Covid positive people?), and that doesn’t make any sense. I’m not crazy about being in proximity to my wife until I’m negative, I certainly don’t want to put her on a shuttle with a bunch of us. So I found another limo company that are ok with me so long as I am masked. Of course, we set a 11:00 pickup which I thought would give plenty of time. Not so much. My wife is going to meet him at 11 and tell him to stick around until can leave the ship.

And kudos where deserved. I was wondering whether I would be able get something to eat for breakfast, as room service is not available on the last day. But room service called me to say that people in isolation could get service this morning, and took my order. 👍

After another attempt to tell me that my on board Covid test wasn’t covered by HAL’s Worry Free Promise, despite ALSO providing a letter stating that “Please be assured that onboard Covid-19 related visits and testing of suspected Covid 19 cases are free of charge”, my account was finally credited. With an apology for the inadvertent error. They also confirmed that I would receive some FCC for my missed days, which is fine, but we are very occasional cruises so I doubt we will ever use them.

Disembarkation procedures for us: we will be escorted off by Medical/Housekeeping after everybody else has left, so around 9:30-9:45 I guess. Nobody ever told me, I had to ask.

I got a nice letter from the medical office assuring me that all Covid related services are free of charge. But the charge is still on my statement, guest relations is “still working on it”

Also, completely unrelated to HAL but just another thing -- I was on hold with Delta for 3 hours to change our flight plans, because the Delta website was not letting me make modifications on line. Just as I was in the middle of finally talking to somebody -- we sailed away from Ketchikan and the call dropped. 🤬Had to try to handle things via chat, which got it done, albeit slowly.

Some brief updates. Room service continues to be fine -- real cutlery shows up. I agree that an inside room would be a bad situation for isolation, I enjoy my balcony, I received a billing notice from the medical center charging me $52 for "Professional Services", described as "Covid 19 PCR Test". But the HAL FAQ for their "Worry Free" covid plan says Onboard COVID-19 related medical center care for positive or suspected COVID-19 cases will be free of charge So I had to call guest relations and ask about that. They are going to talk to medical and get back to me. I assume at some point today I'll be visited and probably have another test, so I'd like to get this straightened out. In the grand scheme of things, it's 52 bucks. But still, their not-so-much "Worry Free Promise" says medical center care for covid cases will be free of charge. Otherwise, it's the last day and I haven't heard of any special debarkation protocols, I keep checking my mailbox, but it is early (9:45)

The ship docks Sunday. I have not been told the particulars of my disembarkation yet.

Yes, the concierge did go out of her way to send me a treat, but it was mostly the thought. Room service is available to us, like other passengers. Also, the room was pre stocked with 4 liters of water, 6 cans of soda and a can of Pringles.

Thank you. I suppose it could change, but lunch room service came with regular plates and cutlery.

Guest Relations did get in touch, and there are basically two options offered: 1. Quarantine in Vancouver for 10 days following testing. Stay at a HAL-recommended hotel at their rate, or arrange your own stay. In either case there is a per diem for meals. Also, HAL's policy is that you need to pay out of pocket and submit for reimbursement. I'm aware from an NCL poster that NCL backed down on that when challenged, and HAL might do the same, especially if you threaten to file a report with the government (is that even a thing?). I suppose it's a semantics argument over whether a reimbursement process complies with the Canadian regulations requiring the cruise lines to "coordinate and cover" the quarantine expenses. I didn't really get into the payment situation because I was arguing more over option 2, which I'm electing. 2. Get yourself over the border -- Canada allows private transportation while quarantined. So, if you can rent a car or arrange a trip to the U.S. on non-public transportation, Canada doesn't really care. Rental cars are not to be found on embarkation day, no surprise. There is one agency that would rent a car CAD395 plus CAD1250 one way drop off fee. No thanks. However, private car transportation is acceptable, so long as the car company doesn't car. Private car transport in a sedan is about $550. After getting to Seattle, you are expected to follow CDC guidelines (5 day quarantine after a positive test for fully vaccinated persons, rather than 10). And, no need to test negative in order to fly domestically - it's basically an honor system. I'm not going to revisit the ethical arguments here. Personally, I won't fly until after 5 days and I test negative. Taking into account my quarantine on the ship, I would only need a hotel room for 2 days. Here's the rub. If you go outside the Government of Canada's quarantine requirements, then HAL is also not bound by the GoC requirements. In other words, they *probably* aren't going to pick up the tab. I say probably because I had a robust discussion about this and I think you could get some movement from HAL on this. I have third-party trip insurance with covid-19 coverage for trip delay and interruption, with limits that I should be under so I didn't feel like arguing forever. So planning on option 2 , but I will still probably submit a claim to HAL on principle and fight about it some more then. Coffee and snack from the Neptune concierge arrived -- it's a separate topic, but we're only in the Neptune suite due to an upsell that we took. The Neptune lounge itself is pretty meh, but the concierges have been outstanding in helping us with a last minute shore excursion cancellation and replacement, and have also been very helpful to my wife in helping with this situation.

So I’m in quarantine in the NA as of today. Some quick thoughts. TBH there are more masks than I expected but fewer than I would have liked. Maybe 35-40% of passengers. We were diligent, but not 100% always masked. We definitely masked up in the hallways and the elevators. Wife is negative. I felt just slightly “off” yesterday and went ahead and took a self test to make sure, and if it was positive, I wanted to make sure it happened on the ship. Bingo. frankly, it’s been a s**t show - things may be getting away from them after the two port stops. I was tested around 7:30 AM, got confirmation around 8:15. The medical office said I could stay in the room, but my wife would need to move. I was told that housekeeping and guest services would be in touch re next steps. Neither of them contacted me. Medical office called around 9:45 and he was surprised and clearly angry that my wife hadn’t been moved. But he said that since she hadn’t been moved yet, they could let her stay in the suite and move me instead. Ok, fine. Guest Services called 15 minutes later and said oopsie, we BOTH have to move, but my wife could return 24 hours later (last day) to the original suite after they sterilized it . She said pass, she had already packed. Fine, housekeeping would be up very shortly to move us. About 2 hours later, nothing. Called guest services, who were surprised we hadn’t been moved. Passed on to a supervisor who apologized and said housekeeping was very busy because “there are a lot of new cases being reported”. Housekeeping showed up about 15 minutes after that call, but tried moving both of us to the quarantine cabin (Deck 11 Balcony for those curious). We said no, my wife was being moved to a different cabin. A few phone calls later, they whisked her off to her new cabin (Deck 7 balcony). Was again told that guest services would be in touch to discuss next steps. That was 2 hours ago. The only person to call was the Neptune concierge who offered to send up some coffee and snacks later (kudos!!). She also said she would contact guest services herself. Have not heard anything since. my wife texted me and said that she saw a crew member being yelled at because she was scared to go back to her cabin in the crew quarters. So that’s not ideal. so that’s where I stand. I mean, Hubbard, Glacier Bay, the White pass RR and especially the Mendenhall flightseeing and dog sledding were spectacular. Sorry to see it ending on such a down note. Really curious to hear from Guest Services, I will add on when things happen. Nothing else to do. oh, here’s a shot of quarantine row, or my slice of it.

I’m on it! I won’t be up and waving.