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Really enjoying this thread, as this is a cruise I would love to take.

I had to laugh at the name of the new act replacing LCS. Third Avenue West is the street in Seattle where the HAL HQ is located. :)

On 4/24/2022 at 6:54 PM, Gourmet Gal said:

We literally flew under the radar to get home.

Update: just like Gourmet Gal’s husband, my mother tested positive on her arrival back home. She still has no symptoms.

I know of at least seven passengers from our sailing who have tested positive on their preflight tests. That is just Americans of course, as we were the only ones required to test to go home. Several passengers from other countries were also showing symptoms. 

It’s a reminder that you can’t say “100% Covid free” unless you actually test for it.
 

I’m grateful that the vaccines/boosters are probably keeping me from having a more serious illness.

If you have travel insurance, they can probably answer this question. I am in this exact situation in Lisbon now, and the medical advisor for Travel Guard has been very helpful. 

Currently isolating in a hotel room in Lisbon after my April 16 Emerald Secrets of the Douro and Lisbon cruise. I would have welcomed more on board testing or guidelines of some kind, as it was clear that some people on board were sick. Also several staff mysteriously disappeared mid-cruise so that by the end kitchen staff and bartenders were serving tables at dinner.

I started getting a sore throat a day before the cruise portion ended (Friday), but my self test was negative. We had three days in Lisbon as part of the Emerald package, and my lab rapid antigen test Monday was positive. Fortunately my mother, who is 84 and was traveling with me, tested negative. She flew home to the US yesterday.

I have very mild symptoms but tested positive again today on a self test. My hotel has been wonderful, as has my trip insurance company. I have optimistically rebooked my flight for Saturday and have another lab test scheduled for Friday. If that is still positive the medical advisor at Travel Guard will help me set up a telemedicine appointment to try to get the clearance to fly.

I got my second booster two weeks before the trip. I am disappointed to have avoided Covid so long only to let my guard down. Just another data point, hope it’s helpful.

Here are the backpacks we received. They included luggage tags, health forms, and contact information for the ship.

Just to update, backpacks arrived via UPS today. I guess this is really happening!

58 minutes ago, mvjcruise said:

Hope this helps. Copied from our travel documents. I can not confirm this is the meeting point for all cruises.

I am back with an update, but first I want to say how glad I am for this forum and how helpful people are to one another, as with mvjcruise above.

After confirming with Delta again last night that our flights are reserved but not ticketed (ie paid for by Emerald) at 10 days before our departure, I got up at 6 am and dozed on the couch while in the phone queue with Emerald. After 2 hours I reached a reservation agent who put me on hold while she consulted a supervisor. The supervisor was unable to help because she was having computer issues (!) so the rep transferred me to the air department.

This time I was only on hold for about 15 minutes. The air rep was able to tell me that our flights were scheduled to be paid tomorrow, but she would talk to her supervisor and see if they could be paid today. Once they are ticketed, we will receive final docs by email and backpacks will be overnighted. I asked if backpacks were vital and she said no but we’d want to have them as they identify us as being with the cruise group.

Everyone I’ve spoken with at Emerald/Scenic has been pleasant, even under such stressful conditions. I don’t yell or demand or make a fuss (not my style, and it never helps, in my  experience).  But what a mess this has been! Days and hours of waiting, for an answer that took a minute to get and should have been proactively communicated to us long ago. The hack is one thing, but their entire communications department has failed miserably in handling it. The fact that it took them so long to even acknowledge the hack and inform their customers was a bad sign from the start. The inability to contact the air department directly is another failing. 

I believe that the cruise itself will be wonderful, as that is what I have heard repeatedly. Bon Voyage to Sissi and all the rest of us, and thanks again.

Thanks, Sissi67! After an hour on hold this morning I reached Arlene, a customer service rep also from Vancouver. She was wonderful, but was not able to get through to the air department either, although she was kind enough not to just transfer me into phone limbo. She said she would personally try to chase down an answer for me. 
 

I feel for the Scenic/Emerald staff who are having to work under duress due to these IT issues. Hoping it will all work out for all of us. Thanks again for sharing info here, it helps.

P.S. We are in Seattle.

I have been following this thread with interest. My mother, brother, sister-in-law and I are booked on the April 16 Secrets of the Douro cruise. For some reason my mother and I have not had our air reservations (through Emerald) ticketed yet. My brother and sil flights show as paid and ticketed on the Delta website.

Of course all attempts to contact Emerald are fruitless. They called me back once, at 6 am my time, which I of course missed. Now they are not even offering the callback option.

I am beyond stressed. Sissi67, I would love the contact info for your helpful rep if you are willing to share.

Statement from HAL this morning: https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/ships/ms-westerdam/statement-regarding-westerdam-in-japan/?linkId=81877894

Thank you so much for this review, especially the lobster roll quest! We are also on the October 6 sailing, and reading this is helping the days pass more quickly. 😀

Thanks, Turtles, I searched this thread but not the whole forum, my bad. The thread you linked to is very helpful, and I think answers my question... the Renaissance is so bad someone walked out! We’ll try someplace else. 

Hi, thanks for this very informative thread. We are flying into EWR Saturday 10/5 for Sunday 10/6 sailing on Summit. I read and searched but saw no mention of Renaissance Newark Airport. Is it awful? We are 2 adults, and prefer Marriott properties for points reasons. I see the Renaissance at $140 nonrefundable for that night. Our flight gets in late afternoon, and we will head to the port early so we don't really care too much about restaurants, etc. Just need a comfortable, safe place to sleep. Is there someplace else you would recommend instead? TIA!

Oh my goodness, smoked meat! We were in Montreal for the first time last fall before our 14 day trip on HAL, and ate it pretty much every day. We're doing a similar 14 day on Celebrity this coming October, but only going as far as Quebec City, so I am happy to hear that there will be smoked meat there too. https://www.foodnetwork.ca/shows/great-canadian-cookbook/blog/the-delicious-history-of-montreal-smoked-meat/

My Celebrity rep told me that I could book a "Times Square drop-off" while on the ship. I can't find any information about it on the Celebrity website or my cruise planner for our October cruise, but I did find this by Googling: http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Flyers/16050277_CEL_Manhattan_Cape_Liberty_Motorcoach_Service.pdf

Have you considered Tahiti? https://www.airtahitinui.com/us-en/airfare-special/australia-new-zealand-and-tahiti