Storylady

From photos on another site, I would recommend NOT getting tested at the Vancouver Airport, the lines were extremely long from the photos I have seen taken by recent passengers. We are planning on staying a couple of extra days to enjoy the city. We plan to make an appointment for couple of hours after getting off the ship. Less stressful. if you don’t mind the long day, take the bus from Vancouver to Seattle Airport. No need for a test if you drive across the board.

HAL should NOT have to constantly remind us to wear masks. We are adults so we should do what they request. Strange that the adults on a Disney ship can wear masks when they are asked, but they don’t on a HAL ship.

Thanks Pete, these were taken on the Zuiderdam in April after we left Santa Barbara. No, the officers didn’t join us for the dinner, but the Restaurant Operations Manager Selcin and Food & Beverage Manager Jonathan were definitely keeping an eye on the staff and the meal. We took photos of the Chef and the Pinnacle Grill Staff clowning around after the meal. We then had one of the staff take the photo of us with Jonathan and Selcin. Then we had the professional photo taken. Lots of the staff came to our table: the Cellar Master Liliana, Sommelier Melissa, Assistant Maitre’d Dadan and naturally the waiters.

See Pete’s review. He has photos and the menu posted.

Go to check-in and go to the end where you print out your boarding pass and tags. You should see a note at the top asking you to fill in the health questionnaire. Hope this helps. But as others have seen, it can be done at the terminal.

There is another posting about the Gala Dinner. Inside Cabin did an incredible review of the meal. See this link and scroll to the top for Pete’s Review!

@The-Inside-Cabin : Thanks Pete for your incredible commentary. We did the Gala dinner on the Zuiderdam in January and again in April. Our experience is similar to yours. We aren’t getting any younger so we thought hang the expense, let’s do it. And we were glad we did. Alan and I had a grand time even though we sat by ourselves as we are still cautious about the CV. We were some of the last to leave the dining room.

Go for it. My husband and I are older and we finally booked a cruise in November. We had such a great cruise, we have been doing a cruise a month. We wear KN95 Mask which are almost as good as N95’s. We avoid crowed areas. If we do go to the showroom, we try to stay well away from others due to so many people not wearing masks. We usually had an Oceanview room, but lately have been doing a suite. So we can enjoy the sea, the scenery and have a quiet place to read and take off our masks. I do believe, the key is not doing lots of socializing with others unless you know they are doing the same as you. You should be fine. People don’t wear their masks properly or not at all. Book one of the Vista Class ships and use the glass elevators. We noticed that not many people use them. If someone comes on without a mask we leave. Rather be sensible than sorry. Being quarantined is not the way you want to spend your anniversary cruise. We get a table for 4 just for us and sit far away from the aisle to social distance. If you eat at 8 PM, you have a better chance of not being around a lot of people who might cough in the dining room. We take HAL shore excursions and wear a mask the whole day. We have been fine. If someone is not wearing a mask sits next to you, move. At least you won’t be in close proximity.

It was an extremely special meal. It was like fine dining in a 5 Star Restaurant. We have eaten at Sel de Mer, but it was much more than that meal. Everyone is dressed for the occasion. They actually roll out a red carpet. The chef explains the meal we are about to enjoy. Wine was paired with the meal. Photo was taken of us at the end of the event. We also received the photo and the menu mounted on card stock. We enjoyed the experience so much, we did it again. I blame the Assistant Shore Excursion Manager for our participation. She explained that she had been treated to this experience and would love to do it again. So we thought why not! It was an excellent recommendation. Interestingly despite the five courses that took approximately 2.5 hours, we didn’t feel like we had overeaten. Portion size was very manageable. Can’t wait to do it again.

It could be because your cruise started in Ft Lauderdale before the notices that there wouldn’t be testing onboard. We were originally told that testing could be done at Canada Place and then they tested onboard. They started stopped testing at the start of the May 4th cruise. As I remember the notices went around that time as people were panicking.

Why don’t you just ask your question of those on Cruise Critic. Many of them have cruised out of Vancouver. If you booked a hotel with HAL before the cruise, you will check out early and be escorted to the Pan Pacific Cruise Terminal. Don’t plan on sleeping in on embarkation day. You will probably checkin earlier than your checkin time in the Navigator App. Be sure to fill in your Arrive Canada app 72 hours before your arrival in Vancouver. I suspect you are only staying one night in Vancouver so that you don’t have to search for a COVID testing site before the cruise. Also, I am sure you hav pe received a notice from HAL that they are no longer testing before disembarkation. If you are not from Canada, you will have to arrange transport to Seattle Airport (for some reason they aren’t checking for COVID Testing at the US border) or arrange hotel and book a test on your departure day. If you plan to get the test at the airport set aside 3 hours to get the result. You can’t check in until you receive your negative results.

It should be fine. The ship has just gone through dry dock. I wouldn’t worry.