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! 

I

 Is this really going to happen?

I have started this blog a number of times and then the cruises are canceled and I am back to playing the waiting and hoping game.

Here is a post I made on a previous incarnation of this blog:

After having a cruise cancelled in the middle and my summer cruise cancelled, I was ready to sail again so I booked the 2021 HAL Grand World Voyage.  Of course, it was canceled a month after I booked.  So I was trying to decide how I would spend my future cruise credits.  When the world cruise was canceled in March we were given the choice of getting 125% of our base fare as a future cruise credit or getting 50% back in cash and 50% as a future cruise credit.  I chose the 125% so I had more than the cost of another world cruise.

When the 2021 world cruise was canceled the booking was transferred to the 2022.  I still needed to decide on the way to spend the rest of the money.  I prefer long cruises so I started looking at the Grand Africa voyage.  It would cover many of the ports missed on this year's world voyage and go to some countries that I have not been to (I may finally get to see the lemurs in Madagascar which has been cancelled on two previous voyages!). 

I decided that the easiest way to plan it was by taking the 2021 Grand Africa, then a Caribbean Holiday cruise (2 weeks) and then the 2022 World Voyage.  That would mean less packing/unpacking, flights, and hotel stays.  

I booked earlier this week and I will be on the same ship (ms Zaandam) from October 10, 2021 - May 12, 2022.  First the Grand Africa for 71 days, then a two week Caribbean  holiday cruise, and then the 128 day World cruise for a total of 214 days.

Of course, all that changed as well.  The 2021 Grand Africa and the 2022 Grand World Voyage were both canceled.  I was then rebooked on the 2022 Grand Africa and the 2023 GWV (with the holiday cruise in between) but then Holland America decided to switch the world cruise to a larger ship which meant I could not stay on the entire time.  Oy vey!

So, here is how it stands now.  I will be on Zaandam from October 10, 2022 - December 20, 2022.  I will then have to schlep all my stuff (I do not travel light!) to a hotel for two nights and then get on the Zuiderdam from December 22, 2022 - May 12, 2023.  When I originally booked this, I could not get the same cabin for the holiday cruise as I had for the world (yuck, another move), but a few weeks ago the cabin became available and I snatched it up, so now I will only have to unpack once when I get on Zuiderdam.

As it is now less than six months out, I am feeling more confident that it will really happen.  I will update as things begin to happen (such as getting information from my travel agency about excursions, itinerary, etc.).  

Keep your fingers crossed!

Smooth sailing until next time!