A couple of updates...

My booklet for the Grand Africa cruise came today.  One major difference from the past is that we have to pay for the luggage sent to the ship up front (some people have free service based on their cabin category) whereas in the past it was added to your onboard account.  HAL is using Luggage Forward instead of dealing directly with FedEx so that may be the reason.

It appears that all necessary visas can be obtained onboard by HAL - some free and some with a fee added to my onboard account.  One less thing to have to do!

I also seem to be good with vaccinations.  Yellow Fever is good for life and I got that five years ago.  I will be getting my yearly flu shot and my second COVID booster in September.

In my last post I mentioned that word was going around about canceling your entire cruise if you tested positive for COVID within the two days before your cruise.  In an update, we found that HAL has yet to decide on a policy for the Grand Voyages.  The Grand Africa in October will be the first "Grand" since 2020.  That was very reassuring.  Also, some cruise lines are dropping the requirement for testing before a cruise just like that requirement was dropped for those flying into the US.  We will see what the next three months brings.

Smooth sailing until next time...

 

Still on...

Almost two months have passed since my first post and nothing has been canceled.  In fact, some people on my Cruise Critic roll call report having received the booklet from Holland America that gives important information such as visas, vaccinations, luggage pick-up, etc.  Mine has not arrived because it has to be sent to my travel agency and they send it to me.

Here are maps that show where we are going.

Cruise 1 - Grand Africa

Cruise 2 - Holiday Cruise

Cruise 3 - 2023 Grand World Voyage

So that is where I am headed.  

One unpleasant thing I have heard just in the last couple of days deals with Covid testing.  One member of the roll call said that a HAL representative told her that if you should test positive on the test that you must take before boarding, they cancel your entire cruise!  Not sure if that is true or not.  Sometimes you can get one answer from a HAL rep while someone else asks the same question and gets a different answer.  Also, I don't think the response was from someone from the World Cruise desk.  It seems somewhat ridiculous to cancel 128 days because of one positive test.  It could even be a false positive result.  I'll cross that bridge if I get there.  Maybe by October the testing mandate will have been dropped. (Keeping my fingers crossed).

Will post more as things start to happen.

Smooth sailing until next time!