danah33

Fix the bloody web site. The current site has major usability problems, and the navigation goes haywire in multiple places. People are used to doing everything online these days, and I shouldn't have to sit on hold on the phone for 15 minutes to find a cruise, book a cruise, or make changes to an existing booking. The usability of most airline and hotel booking websites puts HAL's to shame.

Keep the port-intensive European itineraries which are the main attraction for us.

(I can't comment on anything else because what was to be our first HAL cruise got cancelled this year.)

2 minutes ago, Cruizer Bill said:

I like the idea of different cruise lines geared to different age groups.  That way you can take your pick and know what to expect.  When a ship tries to be all things to all people it usually is a disappointment. 

Indeed. But segmentation by age is not the only possibility. E.g., there are people who like more sea days versus those who prefer to explore more ports; history/culture nerds versus outdoorsy nature types, etc.

1 hour ago, TN Fem said:

I'm 45 yrs old with kids. We like HAL because it usually has ports other cruise lines don't   I like interesting itineraries and decent food.  My kids are perfectly content on the Lido deck with the ping pong table, chess and pool. We don't need water slides and rock walls.  

This. We booked a HAL cruise this year (unfortunately now cancelled) because we wished to show our teenage kids, and re-experience for ourselves, the wonders of classical antiquity in the Mediterranean. My kids and I like water slides, but how many times can you go down a slide before it gets boring? We'd be at least as happy shooting hoops on the sports deck. In any case, on a port-intensive cruise, there's not a huge amount of time for all that anyway.

(We hope to try again in 2021 -- though they inexplicably took Heraklion/Knossos off next year's itinerary, which is the port we were most looking forward to.)

49 minutes ago, TAD2005 said:

The original double-blind study was done in France by a very respected organization.  They had a control group, a 2nd group that took just Hydrocloraquine, and a 3rd group that took Hydrocloraquine and Z-Pack.   The control group that took nothing maintained their level of virus infection for 14 days.  The 2nd group was reduced to 55 to 60% by day 7.  The third group had ZERO virus infection by day 7.

The results of the study are suggestive, but it was not as clean a trial as you indicate. First, it wasn't blinded. Second, 6 patients dropped out of the treatment group, including one who died. Third, the testing frequency was imbalanced between the treatment and control arms.

More details here if you are interested: https://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2020/03/19/coronavirus-some-clinical-trial-data

Woo-hoo! I just checked our booking on the HAL site, and the final payment date is now April 28 for our June 27 cruise. So we have 48 days to decide.

Thanks for the heads-up, SedNabokos.

1 minute ago, mrmoviezombie said:

We thought about canceling and rebooking, but the price would have to drop alot for it to be worth losing the perks we do have.

Yes, we also have a lot of good perks I'd hate to give up. We'll only consider the rebooking option if (1) the situation is still murky at final payment time, forcing us to cancel, but (2) things look a lot better once June rolls around.

For us, risk avoidance is more important than getting the best possible deal. OTOH, I wouldn't be surprised if, after the crisis passes, HAL starts offering additional incentives to get people cruising again.

4 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

These are tough questions with even more difficult answers.  There is no way to predict what the situation will be in late June.  It is possible that things will be better, but its also possible that more ports and countries will close ports.

Yes. If I had to decide now, I would cancel. But a deferral of final payment to mid or late April means more time to see how the situation evolves before making a Go/No-go decision. A lot can happen in a month, both good and bad. If things still look questionable at the end of April, then your suggestion of canceling followed by a possible last minute booking in June is a good one.

With the new HAL policy, I would think the OP could defer final payment to April 21.

36 minutes ago, croozen said:

Embark on June 27 in Rome, and set to disembark July 9 in Venice. We are to fly home to Canada from Milan! Our final payment date is March 29th. I thought I had read on here that Hal, in light of Corona, was extending final payment dates for 60 days but not sure if that was effective for June sailing dates. Does anyone know?

We're on the same cruise. The message from HAL on the extension of the deadline (specifically for June cruises) was sent to travel agents, but we booked directly through HAL. As of a couple of days ago, when I look up our booking on the HAL site, I still see March 29 as the final payment date.

I *assume* we will get the same extension as people who booked through TAs, but since we still have 19 days to go for the original deadline, I'm going to wait at least a few days before trying to contact HAL and request the extension to April 28. I did notice that if you go through the steps of doing a fresh booking on the HAL site, the deadline comes up as April 28.

2 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

Where is all of the panic about seasonal flu which is killing more people?  Do you stop cruising during flu season?

No. But AFAIK, cruise ships don't get quarantined or banned from ports during flu season if someone gets sick on board. Even if you gave me a 100% guarantee that I would not get sick, I still wouldn't cruise any time in the next month due to risks from factors outside my control.

Questions from a newbie who had never heard of OBC for stock owners before:

1. How much OBC do you get per cruise if you own 100 shares?

2. How do you prove you own the stock so that you get the credit?

3. Can you get double credit by owning 100 shares in your own name and 100 more shares in your spouse's name?

Thanks!

If you don't want to wait around, can you call the dining room earlier in the day to make a reservation for a specific time?