Cailey53

7 hours ago, dmcfad2 said:

“Also under the minibar there is a floor light. I spent about 10 minutes trying all the switches trying to turn it off last night. As it turns out it is motion activated so once you get in bed it will turn off in a minute or two .”

 

This light was the bane of our existence on our recent Coastal Cruise. We ended up stuffing a towel down there to cover it so it wouldn’t come on every time we walked by it. LOL

 

It was the bane of our existence as well until DH put a snip of black  duct tape (we carry a small roll) over the sensor. Problem solved! 🙂

4 hours ago, ulcards99 said:

Are you all finding that you have to pay at Walgreens or cvs for the test? If Walgreens isn’t asking if it is travel related, then are those tests being covered by insurance?

We paid zero at CVS for ours. We're on Medicare and they did ask for a copy of the card and they knew it was travel related.

29 minutes ago, BobbiSox said:

I'm probably missing something here. I see a lot of information about the testing and when the results are delivered, but I can't find HOW or WHERE they are delivered. Will they be delivered to my cellphone? Thanks!

When we did our tests with CVS we were required to created a MyChart account for their Minute Clinic. We received our results on there as well as our emails that we had provided during the sign up process to get our appointments. We had them on our phone and also printed results to carry.

15 minutes ago, trixiee said:

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

Any specific recommendations for a first-time cruiser?  I'm thinking mid-ship, main deck would be ideal if trying to avoid and potential issue with seasickness? 

 

One of my concerns with an inside is if one of us needs to quarantine - would we have to stay in an inside for a predetermined number of days, or would they move us?  i.e. - if the ship becomes a floating hot Covid vessel.  KWIM?

If you are a first time cruiser, I'd suggest you stick to mid to aft locations for cabins. The forward ones tend to have more motion, and remember the higher you are the more the movement is enhanced. FWIW if you can afford it and the location is right, at least spring for an ocean view cabin. It will make the time you spend in your cabin more enjoyable. Make sure you look above and below the cabin you might select and avoid being near public areas. Ocean views aft of the Ocean Bar (above you) should be relatively quiet. You may get some noise from the kitchen. Hope this helps--we have not sailed Rotterdam yet, but have been on K'dam and N. Statendam multiple times (sister ships)  albeit in verandah rooms.

2 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Which test  at CVS they have 2 different types  will Holland take ??

Holland will accept both the rapid antigen and PCR test but it's the rapid antigen test that you can get results within hours. The PCR test sometimes takes up to 3 days to get your results.

36 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

THANKS We leave next 12/29  which test ?

We did the rapid antigen test at CVS— we could make an appointment 13 days ahead and had results in a hour.

7 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Holland wants the test 48 hours before you board ??

They want it 2 days before you board. That gives you a bit more leeway in terms of timing. We sailed on Sunday afternoon and got our test on Friday morning. 

I believe the testing requirement applies to sailings through the end of February at this point. It may or may not be extended. 

I would say it depends on if you can get an appointment when you want/need the test. We have both Walgreens and a CVS that does the rapid test near us. The appointment window for Walgreens was only 2-3 days as opposed to the CVS appointment window of 13 days. We went with CVS as I wanted to know we could be tested on a Friday as we were due to fly on Saturday. We had results within an hour.

Hi Kazu,

  We took advantage of the extra OBC by booking while on the K’dam this week—

please add the Jan 4, 2023  21 Day Southern Caribbean Seafarer/Wayfarer on Rotterdam for us. Many thanks!

We are currently on K’dam for our second week. The numbers given to us by the Captain were  1500 for our first week, and 1600 this week. ( 2650 I believe is capacity). 88 of us were onboard last week and continued onward. It was inferred that the lower numbers are more a product of lack of bookings rather than by restrictions. The ship is pleasantly uncrowded.

We had someone onboard with a medical issue. We were supposed to have antigen tests yesterday afternoon for those of us continuing on next week, and they postponed them until this morning as the entire medical staff was attending to the passenger. 

It’s already on the Holland website— a Mariner OBC for an early booking bonus for 2023 Alaskan sailings. IMHO no big deal.

Hi Jacqui,

Please add October 24, 2021 7 day Mexican Riviera on the Koningsdam followed by B2B October 31, 2021 on K'dam 7 day Classic California Coast. It's our pale replacement for the cancelled Rotterdam Premier sailing, but hey, we'll (hopefully) be cruising on a BHB!! 🙂

Thanks,

Cathy

Cailey53

4 hours ago, shipshapegirl said:

Please add us to the 14 Day Atlantic Sojourn on the Rotterdam, October 20, 2021.

Thank you!

Paul & Phyllis

Paul and Phillis— by any chance were you on the waiting list for this voyage or were you previously booked? Right now the Holland site shows this sailing unavailable to book. We are on the waitlist for Rotterdam’s first voyage and I was wondering if they are beginning to fill slots. Thanks!

6 minutes ago, richwmn said:

On June 10th those scheduled for Rotterdam Sailings from Aug 1st to Sep 26 found out that our cruises had been cancelled.

Today I received an email telling me that my FCC was available -- yea!!

When I looked, the amount showed no relationship to the amount I paid for the cruise (much less), and no explanation for how they came up with the amount.

Curious what others have found.

 

We had some posted today and they are WAY off. We had over 7K of a FCC that had been applied to the 8/1 booking from a March 16, 2020 cancellation. That shows nowhere. I also can't figure out how they arrived at the figures that they did post to our account.

I'm calling next week.

18 minutes ago, dfish said:

I just booked an inactive cruise.   It never came up for me with a search, but I asked my PCC about it and she said we could book it.

Just curious, which one did they let you book that was inactive??

We bought these a few years ago and they are holding up great. Zip seal at the top and aircraft cable ties which securely screw together. A modest investment if you cruise a lot and now having to keep the luggage tags they make even more sense.

https://smile.amazon.com/Cruise-Luggage-Holder-Steel-Clear/dp/B07L8WBSFM/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=cruise+luggage+tag+holder+holland+america&qid=1623506208&sr=8-5

3 minutes ago, hmatt said:

We have several perks on our upcoming Rotterdam cruise😊

but can not find them on our Manage my booking page, can someone tell 

me where to look please? I went right to them on Princess but no luck with Holland

Thanks

hmatt

 

They usually don’t show up on the website ( as I recall) but instead on your booking confirmation attached as a PDF. On the second page it will list the perks under passenger #1 passenger #2 etc.

5 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

This is really interesting  .  We just received a phone call from  our local Chase branch manager .Durig this call I reached out about being frustrated  in getting the JnJ vaccine  shots .He gave me this web site : vaccinefinder.org  . when I went on that web  site I did find availability of the JnJ vaccine .The other 2 vaccines also available  & this web site is nation wide . We hope that this great info can help others as well 

On February 25th, post #496 I suggested that you try vaccinefinder.org. to find a shot. 

Great news here in Georgia—starting this Thursday anyone 16 and over is eligible to receive the vaccine. In addition to 9 regional mass vaccination sites, we are getting a federal site at Mercedes Benz stadium that can do 6000 vaccinations a day. I believe it opens later this week.  Gov. Kemp also announced that 75% of all Georgia seniors now have had at least 1 dose of the vaccine (myself included). More progress to achieving herd immunity!

9 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Any word about the crew getting  (vaccinated )

No word about crew vaccination in anything I've read so far.

Virgin Voyages is the latest line to announce that all crew and passengers will need to be vaccinated. I hope HAL/Carnival take note and requires the same.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2021/03/16/virgin-voyages-require-covid-19-vaccine-all-passengers-crew/4712072001/

20 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

Currently in MASS, if you are 65+ you are eligible, appointment required....but appointments are non existent.  Every day I have been on the state website to find an appointment, today I was 131,233 in line with a wait time quoted as 5 1/2 hours until I could schedule........  and, just to add injury to the insult, the longer I waited, the wait time kept going longer.  the other day I was on early, thinking I could get an appointment, but the site crashed.  Govmint........ Maybe I need to go to Florida.

Have you tried an alternate site like www.vaccinefinder.org? They list some of the pharmacy chains that might have availability— worth a try.

48 minutes ago, golfbagger said:

Thanks for the help, Cailey and Doone.  I Just tried ( from my Hal account) the Feb. 13 NS  and got the same block to changing a stateroom.   Think I will call Hal next week😁

Golfbagger can you share what type of stateroom you are trying to book? VMax said they have no trouble booking a specific cabin— it may be that the category (eg. inside or Neptune) may just not have inventory. I agree however, call HAL tomorrow. 

24 minutes ago, golfbagger said:

Good luck to you.  I have been trying to book this cruise for Jan 2022, without success.  My TA could not book it unless it is a Guaranteed booking--You cannot pick your own cabin. Do not understand why?

Can someone  help me understand Hal's  marketing?   Is it too early to obtain an "advantage fare"🤔

 

It probably has to do with the fact that the 10 day sailing is also sold in conjunction with the following 11 day sailing as a 21 day sailing. That time of year on that ship there are a lot of people sailing for 21 days or longer and they take up the room inventory. We are booked on the Jan 12- Feb 2 combo and there are also people booked on the Jan 2-Jan 23 variation and also some on the Jan 23- Feb13 variation. You can see that would complicate reservations and may be the reason you can only book a guarantee depending on what type of stateroom you are desiring. Hope this helps explain what might be going on.