Alaska land tour- Covid testing

[Lalof]

I have a Holland America cruisetour booked for late June/July.  We are doing our land tour first and then connecting to the 7-day cruise out of Whittier.  HAL has a Covid policy that indicates you must have a negative test w/in 2 days of sailing.  Since we are doing the land tour first, I assumed we need the test w/in 2 days of starting the land tour, not within 2 days of getting on the cruise ship.  I did call HAL customer service and initially the rep said I needed to get tested right before getting on the cruise ship.  When I questioned her further, she put me on hold and then came back and said w/in 2 days of the land tour start.  I'm wondering if anyone did the land/cruise this past summer, and if your Covid testing was done prior to the land part, or if you needed to find somewhere to do it on the fly before you got on the cruise ship?   Thanks for any feedback.

[Alphen]

10 minutes ago, Lalof said:

I have a Holland America cruisetour booked for late June/July.  We are doing our land tour first and then connecting to the 7-day cruise out of Whittier.  HAL has a Covid policy that indicates you must have a negative test w/in 2 days of sailing.  Since we are doing the land tour first, I assumed we need the test w/in 2 days of starting the land tour, not within 2 days of getting on the cruise ship.  I did call HAL customer service and initially the rep said I needed to get tested right before getting on the cruise ship.  When I questioned her further, she put me on hold and then came back and said w/in 2 days of the land tour start.  I'm wondering if anyone did the land/cruise this past summer, and if your Covid testing was done prior to the land part, or if you needed to find somewhere to do it on the fly before you got on the cruise ship?   Thanks for any feedback.

We have the same tour coming up, but last season, there were no land/cruise tours!

[Lalof]

Oh, I didn't know that.  Well, I guess I will have to hope the info I got was correct.  😬

 

[Alphen]

1 minute ago, Lalof said:

Oh, I didn't know that.  Well, I guess I will have to hope the info I got was correct.  😬

 

The info we got, was that it was to early to tell at this stage.

[srpilo]

I too have a land tour coming up, and it seems ridiculous that HAL is even hinting we'll need a test to start a land tour ?  A test to stay in a Hotel with other untested people, a test to ride on a pubic train in the USA, and test to ride on a pre cruise bus ???. To me the obvious solution will be to test all tour guests in Whittier prior to boarding , not 3, 4, or 5 days before when starting the land tour.

 

The CDC  covid recommendations mention nothing about land tours in the USA requiring a covid test, but are rather specific about the pre-boarding time frame --> "2- days prior to boarding a cruise ship"... Just saying ....

[CruiserBruce]

It has been asked several times now. No one has an answer at this point. @srpilo, I won't even comment on a test to ride on "a pubic train".

[Harrylinden]

Following.We also have an 18 day land/cruise starting with the land part July 27th and ending with the cruise part on August 7th back to Vancouver.Our final payment is April 28th and don't want to commit that amount if covid restriction are gonna interfer with that! Some articles say Alaska cruise season may be in jeopardy if Canada covid restrictions stay in effect.Hope we and everyone else get to go this year because ours was canceled last year because of Canadas and the CDC restrictions on covid!!!

[Alphen]

We keep getting (automated no doubt) emails from HAL with preparation information, including vaccination and Covid testing requirements, but always based on rules before cruise. So far, no mentioning of rules regarding Land first, cruise second!

[syesmar]

Here’s other Threads that discuss this. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2828584-land-tour-pre-cruise-covid-test/

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2830640-pcr-testing-in-alaska-for-summer-2022-sailings-from-whittier/

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2828686-cancelling-alaska-land-cruise-due-to-lack-of-clear-informationpolicy/

Hope HAL sets their policy soon for those in this situation. All the Best!

[Alphen]

1 hour ago, syesmar said:

Here’s other Threads that discuss this. 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2828584-land-tour-pre-cruise-covid-test/

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2830640-pcr-testing-in-alaska-for-summer-2022-sailings-from-whittier/

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2828686-cancelling-alaska-land-cruise-due-to-lack-of-clear-informationpolicy/

Hope HAL sets their policy soon for those in this situation. All the Best!

Thanks, read most, all of them are having the same questions at this moment in time.

 

If only HAL would post an updated version of the ALASKA LAND+SEA JOURNEY TIPS. The version that is on their website, is still the old, 2020 version, which is of no help. Obviously, judging the many questions both here and also on social media, they must know of the constant search for information on this specific subject by their guests. 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Alphen