HAL staff have to wear masks?

[CruiserKris34]

I was just curious if the staff have to wear masks currently.  It doesn't really matter to me, I was just wondering.  Going on Nieuw Statendam in a few weeks.  Thanks, Kris

[Seasick Sailor]

It is suggested but not mandatory. The majority of the staff on Rotterdam right now do not wear any masks

[mwj]

It seemed to be optional for staff to wear masks on our recent cruises. I would estimate 1/3 of the staff were wearing a mask in public spaces.

[Copper10-8]

Just got off Koningsdam this morning in San Diego and same status there as far as crew wearing masks; they are optional for crew as well as for pax! Some crew were wearing them, with most choosing not to

[OlsSalt]

Also back from 16 days on Konigsdsam.

 

I remain unvaccinated, so this was our first no-restrictions HAL cruise. We both had no problems and did not exercise extra precautions - which were not already normal cruise habits long in place for noro or "cruise crud" prevention. No problems for us.  (Elderly, with some co-morbidities)

 

Only time we were asked to use a mask was the long bus ride into La Paz, Baja, but no one seemed to care on the bus ride back to the ship. Maybe 10% of the passengers still wore masks and it was still advised by signs and the captain's daily messages. Including ......wash your hands! Which is second nature by now.

 

Agree, most staff were not masked and those that were were very hard to understand - for those of us with hearing issues. If there were any cases of "covid" onboard, we did not learn about them.  Nor did we know of any quarantine areas. Big ship, we did not visit all decks.

 

Though we did have several medical emergencies - far more than I have ever experienced on other much longer cruises - one person during dinner,  one person in a hot tub, one course deviation to Cabo for a medical evacuation, one ambulance delay in another port and now learning long-time HAL poster kazu also had to face a medical evacuation in Puerto Vallarta due to an accident.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 and now learning long-time HAL poster kazu also had to face a medical evacuation in Puerto Vallarta due to an accident.

You cannot leave everyone hanging like that. If you have any more details about this, please pot them. 

[Sea42]

52 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

You cannot leave everyone hanging like that. If you have any more details about this, please pot them. 

Kazu has posted that she broke her elbow and has sepsis. She did not post any details of what happened so we should wait and see if she wants to share any other medical details.'

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by Sea42

[DaveOKC]

On our Sept/Oct Panama Canal cruise the staff wore masks 100% for first 3-4 days, then removed them (almost all did), then about day 8 (or so) they had to put them back on for rest of cruise.  I assumed that this was not a recommendation.

[mcrcruiser]

Masks or no masks is the question . now there is a new variant out there in the North East  .no doubt we will hear about it at some point in the cruise industry 

[HALcruiser2001]

3 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Kazu has posted that she broke her elbow and has sepsis. She did not post any details of what happened so we should wait and see if she wants to share any other medical details.'

 

I saw this too and did not see anything mentioned about an accident.  My thoughts are with kazu, but I did not see anything about an accident.  Elbow and septic is typically arthritis, but that is also a guess.

[Copper10-8]

10 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

........................................

 

Agree, most staff were not masked and those that were were very hard to understand - for those of us with hearing issues. If there were any cases of "covid" onboard, we did not learn about them.  Nor did we know of any quarantine areas. Big ship, we did not visit all decks.

 

Though we did have several medical emergencies - far more than I have ever experienced on other much longer cruises - one person during dinner,  one person in a hot tub, one course deviation to Cabo for a medical evacuation, one ambulance delay in another port and now learning long-time HAL poster kazu also had to face a medical evacuation in Puerto Vallarta due to an accident.

 

HAL still has "Covid isolation" cabins on all their ships, so incl. K-dam, and will continue to have them for the foreseeable future while Covid is with us. No end in sight for that one. It is part of their protocol now

 

Yes, there were a high number of "medical response team" (the old Brightstar) announcements on this cruise which included, very unfortunately, one death (heart attack) and one crew member with a case of pancreatitis. These cases resulted in medical disembarkations in Cabo San Lucas (two times, incl. the unscheduled stop on the way back), Mazatlán and Puerto Vallarta (two times incl. poster Kazu) 

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Kazu has posted that she broke her elbow and has sepsis. She did not post any details of what happened so we should wait and see if she wants to share any other medical details.'

 

Thanks, I guess I missed that thread.

[REOVA]

Masks vary depending on itinerary. Passengers and crew on Grand Voyages have to wear them for first 3-5:days and after testing if rise in positive cases. On our last Carribean no requirement, however the Captain made an announcement midway through to seek medical attention of feeling ill and masks were seen more on crew (hint hint). 

[Smeecanada]

Boarding Oosterdam on Wednesday.  Masks required for at least first 3 days.

[PROCRUISE]

NS, this just past December, all food servers in Lido wore masks, most waiters in Club Orange dining area wore masks. Most of the rest of the staff and officers, did not.

[POA1]

On 1/7/2023 at 6:00 PM, CruiserKris34 said:

I was just curious if the staff have to wear masks currently.  It doesn't really matter to me, I was just wondering.  Going on Nieuw Statendam in a few weeks.  Thanks, Kris

I was wondering if mandarin orange segments and whole milk Greek yogurt was being offered. It doesn't really matter to me. Thanks!

[Copper10-8]

33 minutes ago, POA1 said:

I was wondering if mandarin orange segments and whole milk Greek yogurt was being offered. It doesn't really matter to me. Thanks!

 

Dunno know about your mandarins in segments, Brian but on K-dam they were serving vanilla Greek yoghurt or plain Greek yoghurt and both were mahvelous, if not piquant 🙂  

[MISTER 67]

We were on the NA last month and at the beginning of the cruise all of the crew were masked, with 2 days left in cruise only a few were masked. I asked our steward why the change and he said it wasn't mandatory for the crew for the last 2 days as there were very few Covid cases on board. 

Edited January 9, 2023 by MISTER 67

[ShipWalker]

6 hours ago, Smeecanada said:

Boarding Oosterdam on Wednesday.  Masks required for at least first 3 days.

Currently on the Oosterdam. Masks were required the first three days, too.

 

Many passengers did not feel the requirement applied to them.

[CruiserKris34]

3 hours ago, POA1 said:

I was wondering if mandarin orange segments and whole milk Greek yogurt was being offered. It doesn't really matter to me. Thanks!

I'm not sure what your point is unless you are just poking fun at me?  Or am I missing something?  A year ago on our cruise, mask were required for the staff and I felt bad for the ones that were outside sweating & wearing the masks.  I am fully vaccinated & boosted & work for a hospital, however I respect everyone's own decision about that & masks.  It really doesn't matter to me.