Covid in Alaska - you may be on your own

[CafeBruno]

I wanted to let others know about our experience with Covid on our Alaska Cruise Tour. In summary, we enjoyed our trip a lot, but we learned a couple of important lessons that may be of value to others. First, that the land tour Covid protocols were nonexistent, increasing your risk of Covid, and second, if you do catch Covid on the land portion of the tour like us, be prepared to figure things out completely by yourself, with no help from HAL or others. I had my laptop with me and we were able to figure out what to do on our own - how long to quarantine, change our flights, extend our hotel stay, get more tests and medications, etc., so for us it was just an inconvenience, extra expense, and disappointment at not being able to complete the trip as planned. But if you are not computer savvy or expect assistance from HAL or others, you need to know that you might not get any assistance at all and be stuck completely on your own in Fairbanks or Denali.

 

For those interested in the details of our experience:

We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam, leaving Vancouver June 5, ending in Whittier, where we started our 6 day land portion to Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks. On the ship, we had a great time, with great weather in all the ports. We are very risk averse and wore masks constantly and avoided crowds on the ship, which was actually easier to do than on land. On the land portion, there were many more crowded situations, like on the busses and trains, on the 26 Glacier boat tour, the Denali Tundra Wilderness tour, and the other included land excursions. Both on the ship and on the land tour, very few people wore masks, maybe 10% at most.

 

We are double vaxxed and double boosted, and we’ve managed to avoid Covid until now. From my understanding the incubation period for Covid is typically from 2 to 10 days after exposure, but for the most prevalent Omicron variant, it is typically 3 days. So we could possibly have caught it on the ship, but most likely, it was during the land tour, which is logical based on what we experienced – close quarters, no masking, and increasing amounts of coughing as the land tour progressed.

 

My wife started feeling sick on our last night in Denali, on Wednesday last week, but she tested negative. When we got to the hotel in Fairbanks on Thursday, she tested positive, and I immediately contacted the HAL Tour Desk and the hotel front desk and informed them. They gave me a letter from HAL and one from the hotel, advising us that we needed to remain isolated and that we would be contacted by our Tour Director/HAL, and Beacon Health, who would “be contacting you periodically to test you and check on you”. Spoiler alert – no one from HAL or Beacon ever contacted us. I tried contacting Beacon myself on Friday; I called about 6 numbers and got shuffled around and sent to several voicemails. I left voicemails, but no one ever called us back. I also tested positive Friday.

Long story short, we figured out that we should quarantine 5 days, so instead of flying out of Fairbanks Saturday the 18^th,  we’d need to stay in quarantine at the hotel until Wednesday the 22^nd. I was able to change our HAL flights myself on Saturday morning (at increased fare), to avoid losing flight credit for our original flight.

 

Some may say, “You knew the risk when you booked the trip, and if you were not comfortable with the risks you shouldn’t have cruised”. I totally agree with that – we completely understood the risks and are fine with them. This was our 4^th cruise since October 2020, and we have several more booked that we are looking forward to. It was just our turn to get Covid, despite our precautions. But it is very disappointing to see so many people unmasked, in close quarters, especially while coughing and hacking. I just wish people had more consideration for others and take the small steps of wearing masks around others, especially if they have cold/covid symptoms. And even more disappointing that we got zero assistance from HAL, Beacon, or anyone else. At this point I am hoping HAL will reimburse us for the additional hotel nights, meals, and airfare increase. Time will tell.

 

There’s a lot more to the story, so if anyone has questions, let me know.

[Bruinboy]

Thanks for sharing. Not that masked wearing would have made a difference but it would not have hurt. Sorry for being left hanging from Hal and Beacon. That's the worst of all. If one wants to avoid masks on cruises, one should wait a few more months to board a ship. We have made that decision. Hopefully, the world will be different July 2023.

[silversneakers]

6 minutes ago, Bruinboy said:

Thanks for sharing. Not that masked wearing would have made a difference but it would not have hurt. Sorry for being left hanging from Hal and Beacon. That's the worst of all. If one wants to avoid masks on cruises, one should wait a few more months to board a ship. We have made that decision. Hopefully, the world will be different July 2023.

Did you have travel insurance through HAL?  So disappointed that HAL didn't see you through this....

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I totally agree with your statement about being prepared to figure it out yourself. Traveling these days is difficult at best. I am about to take a land tour in the U.S. and the travel company has so many disclaimers on its 4 pages of instructions that I know if anything happens to me, I will get no assistance and must be prepared to figure it out myself. I believe the same to be true for cruising for quite some time.

[RSWBADGER]

COVID-19 Protection Program

 

This new element of the Worry-Free Promise program provides further peace of mind for guests within 30 days of embarkation all the way through to disembarkation for bookings made by September 30, 2022 and sailing on or before December 31, 2022. It is designed to assist guests who, as a result of being suspected of having COVID-19 or testing positive for COVID-19, may be unable to travel to embarkation, may be denied boarding, may be quarantined on board or disembarked early. It is also designed to assist guests who, as a result of governmental travel restrictions put in place within 30 days of embarkation, cannot travel to the country of embarkation for their booked cruise. The program outlined below will apply to the affected guests and their immediate travel party in the same stateroom. This program covers the situations where a passenger cannot travel due to COVID-19, but the cruise itself is not cancelled or delayed for more than 3 calendar days due to COVID-19, which is covered by our Nonperformance of Cruise: Refund Policy and Instructions viewed here.

Pre-Embarkation:
 

1. Future Cruise Credit (FCC) for 100% of the cancellation fee amount of non-refundable unused services, and a refund to the original form of payment for all taxes, fees, port expenses, and pre-paid onboard experiences and shore excursions purchased through the cruise line. Applicable, for guests and their immediate travel party in the same stateroom if any guest tests positive for COVID-19 within 30 days prior to embarkation.

On Board:
 

1. FCC worth 100% of the per-day cruise fare for the missed days and a refundable credit to their onboard account for missed pre-paid onboard experiences and shore excursions purchased through cruise line, and for the refundable portion of taxes, fees, and port expenses for ports visited after disembarkation.

2. Onboard COVID-related medical center visits and testing of suspected COVID-19 cases will be free of charge.

Shoreside:
 

1. Reimbursement of expenses for COVID-related care including during any required shoreside quarantine period for guests and their immediate travel party if any such guest(s) test positive for COVID-19 during their cruise. This includes reasonable hotel expense and air change fees in the case onward travel plans need to change.

2. Any shoreside meals will be covered by a per-diem meal allowance as communicated by a letter provided onboard prior to disembarkation. (no receipt retention is required).
 

a. This program is not intended to replace insurance or travel protection there are many non-COVID related reasons for travel protection plans.
b. Insurance may allow for refunds in some cases otherwise covered by FCC only.
c. Insurance coverage is subject to the applicable policy.

 

General:
 

1. Due to restrictions at some ports, it may be required that guests who have tested positive and their close contacts disembark and continue isolation ashore instead of on the ship. If you’re required to disembark the ship, we’ll work with the local port authorities to secure the most appropriate accommodation for your period of isolation. In some instances, local authorities require isolation take place at a specific hotel, pre-approved to accommodate positive cases of COVID-19. These hotels could be 2-3 star properties and upgrades are beyond our control.

2. All elements of the Covid-19 Plan are excess over any valid and collectible insurance.  Guests will be reimbursed for reasonable expenses, as defined below, incurred but not covered by their insurance meaning that the guest must file a claim with their primary insurer, and submit any excluded or uncovered expense.

3. This program shall not be applicable to a guest or any member(s) of their immediate travel party if such individual makes any false statements to the cruise line as to such individual’s COVID-19 vaccination status. The cruise line reserves the right to revoke any of the goodwill benefits provided in this program in the event of discovery of such false statements.

4. This program is not intended to provide long-term care for issues arising from COVID-19 and there will be no reimbursement of any expenses incurred after guest is medically cleared to travel home.

This plan is also designed assist guests who, as a result of governmental travel restrictions put in place within 30 days of embarkation, cannot travel to the country of embarkation for their booked cruise. 

 

Covid-19 Protection Program (hollandamerica.com)

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

What I have been unable to locate is how isolation is handled on board a HAL ship once one tests positive. Has anyone found that?

[CafeBruno]

Thanks, I also saw the policy, and am hoping HAL will honor that and reimburse us for the extra costs. In fact I emailed HAL's Guest Relations at the address on the letter they gave me when we informed them we were positive, but, no response yet. I am not holding my breath on getting a response quickly. 

[cccole]

I may have missed this in the above "Covid-19 Protection Program" but does the Worry Free Promise apply to HAL land tours?  Sorry if I missed this. I seem to remember that there was a recent "live from" where 8 couples were unable to board their ship after a HAL land tour due to positive Covid results.  Just curious.   Cherie

Edited June 21, 2022 by cccole

[LJProk]

41 minutes ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

What I have been unable to locate is how isolation is handled on board a HAL ship once one tests positive. Has anyone found that?

In talking to a lady whose husband tested positive onboard Noordam 6/5-6/12, they were testing both people in a cabin. Only the positive person(s) were moved to deck 6 starboard side. The other negative person(s) could still be out and about on the ship, masked, just they were not allowed to eat or drink outside their cabin. They had to order room service.

[SharonN]

I can give you a few details about how it was handled on the ship. We were also on the Nieuw Amsterdam June 6 Vancouver to Whittier and stayed on for the 2nd week from Whittier back to Vancouver. My husband woke up with symptoms on the 16th so we reported it and they came to our door to test both of us. He was positive and I was negative so they moved him to a cabin on deck 6. We also took the 26 Glaciers tour as an in-transit guests on the day in Whittier and are pretty sure that's where he caught it since it was quite a crowd and most were not wearing masks and most were not from the ship. Since I tested negative I was allowed to be out of my cabin and go to shore if I wanted (I didn't) as long as I didn't show any symptoms. I wasn't required to order room service  but did go to the Lido and either brought it back to eat on my balcony or ate by the Lido Pool area where there were very few people just because I thought that was better. The concierge was very helpful in setting up our arrangements and letting me know what was going on. Things changed a few times but she kept me up to date. Since the quarantine requirement in Canada is 10 days vs the 5 in the US they arranged a shuttle bus from Vancouver to Seattle for about 28 people (about 16 positives and we negative companions), arranged the hotel in Seattle, and changed our flights (which we had booked thru them). So I'm writing this from our hotel in Seattle and we fly home tomorrow night. They put us up in the Embassy Suites so we have some room but we haven't been allowed to leave the room since we got here Sun afternoon. The information we were provided is that they'll reimburse us up to $100 per day for food. The hotel delivers breakfast each morning and has room service we've used for dinner one night. We ordered from Door Dash one night and had groceries for lunches and snacks delivered by InstaCart. I think we will be charged for the room etc but can submit it to HAL (we have their premium insurance) for reimbursement which we'll take care of when we get home. The hotel is about an hour away from the airport so they gave us the information to order a shuttle/car for tomorrow. So other than being bored and stuck in a hotel room we have not complaints. We too knew this was a possibility when traveling these days. Luckily we got 1 1/2 weeks of the cruise in before he got sick. But we are definitely ready to go home tomorrow!

[kazu]

1 hour ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

What I have been unable to locate is how isolation is handled on board a HAL ship once one tests positive. Has anyone found that?

 

From what I have read on the boards from people who have / are going through it - you are moved to the quarantine section to a different cabin.  Quarantine for 5 days and they start to test.  When you are negative you are released or at 10 days whichever comes first.

 

If you have Have it All, they apply it for beverage purchases even though it is technically room service.

 

Oops edited to say - I was posting at the same time as Sharon - she’s been through it so read her post and you can disregard mine as hers is much better detail.

[Freckles1983]

3 hours ago, CafeBruno said:

I wanted to let others know about our experience with Covid on our Alaska Cruise Tour. In summary, we enjoyed our trip a lot, but we learned a couple of important lessons that may be of value to others. First, that the land tour Covid protocols were nonexistent, increasing your risk of Covid, and second, if you do catch Covid on the land portion of the tour like us, be prepared to figure things out completely by yourself, with no help from HAL or others. I had my laptop with me and we were able to figure out what to do on our own - how long to quarantine, change our flights, extend our hotel stay, get more tests and medications, etc., so for us it was just an inconvenience, extra expense, and disappointment at not being able to complete the trip as planned. But if you are not computer savvy or expect assistance from HAL or others, you need to know that you might not get any assistance at all and be stuck completely on your own in Fairbanks or Denali.

 

For those interested in the details of our experience:

We sailed on the Nieuw Amsterdam, leaving Vancouver June 5, ending in Whittier, where we started our 6 day land portion to Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks. On the ship, we had a great time, with great weather in all the ports. We are very risk averse and wore masks constantly and avoided crowds on the ship, which was actually easier to do than on land. On the land portion, there were many more crowded situations, like on the busses and trains, on the 26 Glacier boat tour, the Denali Tundra Wilderness tour, and the other included land excursions. Both on the ship and on the land tour, very few people wore masks, maybe 10% at most.

 

We are double vaxxed and double boosted, and we’ve managed to avoid Covid until now. From my understanding the incubation period for Covid is typically from 2 to 10 days after exposure, but for the most prevalent Omicron variant, it is typically 3 days. So we could possibly have caught it on the ship, but most likely, it was during the land tour, which is logical based on what we experienced – close quarters, no masking, and increasing amounts of coughing as the land tour progressed.

 

My wife started feeling sick on our last night in Denali, on Wednesday last week, but she tested negative. When we got to the hotel in Fairbanks on Thursday, she tested positive, and I immediately contacted the HAL Tour Desk and the hotel front desk and informed them. They gave me a letter from HAL and one from the hotel, advising us that we needed to remain isolated and that we would be contacted by our Tour Director/HAL, and Beacon Health, who would “be contacting you periodically to test you and check on you”. Spoiler alert – no one from HAL or Beacon ever contacted us. I tried contacting Beacon myself on Friday; I called about 6 numbers and got shuffled around and sent to several voicemails. I left voicemails, but no one ever called us back. I also tested positive Friday.

Long story short, we figured out that we should quarantine 5 days, so instead of flying out of Fairbanks Saturday the 18^th,  we’d need to stay in quarantine at the hotel until Wednesday the 22^nd. I was able to change our HAL flights myself on Saturday morning (at increased fare), to avoid losing flight credit for our original flight.

 

Some may say, “You knew the risk when you booked the trip, and if you were not comfortable with the risks you shouldn’t have cruised”. I totally agree with that – we completely understood the risks and are fine with them. This was our 4^th cruise since October 2020, and we have several more booked that we are looking forward to. It was just our turn to get Covid, despite our precautions. But it is very disappointing to see so many people unmasked, in close quarters, especially while coughing and hacking. I just wish people had more consideration for others and take the small steps of wearing masks around others, especially if they have cold/covid symptoms. And even more disappointing that we got zero assistance from HAL, Beacon, or anyone else. At this point I am hoping HAL will reimburse us for the additional hotel nights, meals, and airfare increase. Time will tell.

 

There’s a lot more to the story, so if anyone has questions, let me know.

I was on this exact same trip as you and I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been left in the lurch like that.  Our tour continues to dwindle as more people who tested positive today (on their home brought testing kits) just decided to leave early and fly home.  We are about to head to the airport for our flight to Whitehorse so I’m curious about how many more we lost.  Yes cruising and travelling is a choice associated with risks but a little bit of concern for your fellow travellers goes a long way.  Sorry again to hear your trip ended this way and I hope HAL comes right for you even if it’s a bit late.

[*Miss G*]

5 minutes ago, Freckles1983 said:

more people who tested positive today (on their home brought testing kits) just decided to leave early and fly home.

 

😳 

[SharonN]

I should have added that the 2nd week on the cruise Masks were required when outside your cabin (and not eating or drinking) or on any HAL tours. They were trying to enforce it and most people did seem to be complying. I did seem them send some people back to their cabin to get their mask and the crew member at the entry to the Lido went to get masks for a few people that said they forgot theirs. We were told they were required on the train in Skagway but there were a couple of women who said they left them on the ship (though I know they were checking as you exited the ship) and one was coughing the whole way and the guides who came thru the cars a couple of times didn't check anything. 

[arzz]

Test positive and then just fly home?  What ever happened to consideration for others?

 

One thing to choose risk for yourself. Another thing to impose your risk decision on others!  Wow …

[seaoma]

9 minutes ago, arzz said:

Test positive and then just fly home?  What ever happened to consideration for others?

 

One thing to choose risk for yourself. Another thing to impose your risk decision on others!  Wow …

 

Sadly, that's not the only sickening thing mentioned in this thread.

[Gray Lady]

We are in Denali now on our pre-cruise land tour. We were emailed, more than once, that masks are mandated on HAL transportation. Only 10% complying, and no one asking to please mask up. We were willing to travel and wear masks, but I am afraid that we will test positive before boarding because of people packed into bars, restaurants, and tours with no masks. We knew the risk before leaving, but thought these measures would help us stay safe. I really don’t think we stand a chance now. No one seems to care. Don’t know where HAL will test us…guessing it will be Seward. From what I have read, they will take care of us if we test negative. We are just trying to enjoy the land portion while we can. 

[CafeBruno]

Wow Gray Lady, HAL must have just changed the policy to make masks mandatory rather than optional, surely in response to high covid rates on the preceding trip (mine). I wish you safe travels, but I would not assume HAL will take care of you...they sure didn't take care of us. Better to prepare for taking care of yourself in case HAL ignores you like they did us 

[CafeBruno]

Double post 

Edited June 22, 2022 by CafeBruno

[Gray Lady]

1 minute ago, CafeBruno said:

Wow Gray Lady, HAL must have just changed the policy to make masks mandatory rather than optional, surely in response to high covid rates on the preceding trip (mine). I wish you safe travels, but I would not assume HAL will take care of you...they sure didn't take care of us. Better to prepare for taking care of yourself in case HAL ignores you like they did us 

Appreciate the info. Can you add anything additional as far as what they didn’t do?

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I understand what various ships have done for those requiring isolation. However, there is not a written policy for ship isolation on the HAL website which I think there should be. I suspect HAL does not want people to know in advance what they may be subjected to. I may be in the minority but I think people should be aware in advance.

[SharonN]

28 minutes ago, CafeBruno said:

Wow Gray Lady, HAL must have just changed the policy to make masks mandatory rather than optional, surely in response to high covid rates on the preceding trip (mine). I wish you safe travels, but I would not assume HAL will take care of you...they sure didn't take care of us. Better to prepare for taking care of yourself in case HAL ignores you like they did us 

I'm so sorry you got sick and that they didn't take care of things as they should have. As I said in my earlier post they were very helpful on the ship with our situation. Hope you're both feeling better and getting ready to go home. 

[CafeBruno]

Gray Lady, when we self tested positive at the Westmark Hotel in Fairbanks, we immediately reported it to the HAL tour desk at the hotel. They took down our names and room number and told us our Tour Director would be getting hold of us for the next steps (she never did, now 4 days later), and that our tour was over and we could no longer participate in the tour. They then told us to go to the hotel front desk to report it to them also. We did and the front desk gave us 2 letters, 1 from HAL and 1 from the hotel.

 

The HAL letter told us we couldn't continue the tour and that we had to isolate, and said we had to pay for our additional expenses, and then submit to HAL for reimbursement. It also said we could contact Guest Relations, which we tried to but gave up after an hour on hold - I sent them an email instead on Friday, but again no response yet.

 

The hotel letter told us "...we will contact Beacon, and Occupational Health and Safety Service we have contracted with to help manage cases that come up. They will be contacting you periodically to test you and check on you". We got these letters last Thursday, and to date, no one from Beacon or HAL or the hotel has contacted us to do anything. I even spent an hour on the phone last Friday trying to contact every Beacon phone number I could find, and got shuffled around to 3 voice mails, which I left, which again I have not gotten 1 return call. 

 

Since our HAL flight was supposed to leave last Saturday, and our 5 day quarantine does not expire until tomorrow, I was able to change our HAL flights myself on delta.com on Saturday morning, from Saturday to Wednesday (for an extra $210, which of course I had to pay). 

 

Hope this is helpful to you - let me know if you need more info. And safe travels to you 

 

[SumoCitrus]

I couldn't help but notice that you survived. That's good.

 

Think back to 2018 and reimagine your post but instead of COVID it was norovirus - a serious illness that is common on ships. Would you have written the same post?

[CafeBruno]

Thanks for your concern Sumo Citrus! Like I said, I was writing to try and inform others that might be expecting HAL to help them once they test positive. Those that are might not be comfortable changing their own travel arrangements on the fly, like I did.

 

Sorry if I can off as whiny....but it is disappointing to me when HAL makes promises but does not keep them.