GeezerCouple

Can one do that without some special circumstance. (That could be because you can't travel in Country A if you have a stamp from Country B, and you need to go to both of them, or such.) I mean, that would be great... fewer worries about losing a passport, too! 😉 GC

Are you working with a travel insurance broker? They can help you with all of this, and you wouldn't be stressing now. FIrst, double check your own policy's "deadline" for the pre-existing waiver... it's state dependent and can be from 10 to ~20 days. Second, you should not (depending upon policy, perhaps?) need to insure anything you haven't yet paid for. So one insures the deposit only. Then, as other payments are made, add the insurance for the additional amount. NO need to insure the total cost of the trip months (or years!?) in advance. At final payment for a cruise, then add coverage for that big payment, all within the same deadlines, and you'll be fine. You only insure non-refundable payments. So for example, with our awards flights, we insure the "fee" that we would pay if we needed to re-bank our points or switch to a different flight if a covered event required us to interrupt, change or cancel our reservations. Will your flights we non-refundable, or just fees for cancelling? GC

More salt? 😆

And here is a link to the Travel Insurance section of CC. There is likely to be more input there, if needed. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/ GC

What is one supposed to do if one has several trips planned, without a *long* time between any two of them, with a passport that might be expiring in 1-2 years or so?

Yes, ALWAYS read the full terms and conditions of any policy. Next best is to purchase from an insurance broker (we use www.TripInsuranceStore.com - no extra cost to the traveler) and ask them. If they give an affirmative answer about coverage, ask any broker or agent to *point* you to the exact terms of the policy that does indeed cover the concern. Another advantage of a broker is that they are likely to ask you some questions and either suggest policies that are a better fit, based upon your answers, or to point out why something that might be a concern isn't covered. (In one case, TIS knew enough about our situation from previous policy purchases and claims, and Steve, the owner, actually reminded me of a reason why we did NOT need that insurance for that particular trip anyway. Yup, he talked himself right out of a sale. We never forgot that! 🙂 ) Note that with MJA, one needs to be already admitted to a hospital as an *inpatient*, not ER or observation, for their coverage to kick in. We get the annual policy, or did pre-Covid while we were still traveling a lot. There was one time when I was in hospital overseas (not cruise-related), and we started mumbling, "... should we call MJA...?" Those apparently were the magic words ( 😉 ), as I soon started to recover! At age 75, they do require medical underwriting (not before that age), and we were a bit wary about whether DH would be "accepted". There was a short form for the traveler, and another short form for the physician. He was "accepted" for another annual membership within a few days. That policy costs a bit more than the regular (under 75) membership. There are also "per trip" memberships. What matters to us is that WE would get to decide to go to a hospital that WE decided was "better". No need to get approvals of beancounters or local medical staff, who may not want to declare themselves "unable" to provide proper care, etc. MJA definitely falls in the SWAN category: Sleep Well At Night! GC

Is there by any chance one of those small airside hotels at LAX? Just before Covid hit, we had a long layover in Singapore, but not long enough to do anything meaningful (less than 11 hours). The airside hotel wasn't expensive; it was perfect as a pllace to stretch out on real beds. We were between two very long flights, so it was a pleasant respite, plus just being able to walk around. With an airside hotel, there are no customs/immigration, and no additonal security. It's not much different than just changing gates or terminals. 11 hours is a long time, even for a nice "lounge"! GC

After what happened, why would you *not* change both your charge card number (the one you gave to the scammers) and your FF number? Especially that FF number... do you have it memorized? Is it on file at a bunch of vendors such that you'd need to update them? (That's a bit of an annoyance for regular charge cards sometimes, but still... weighed against the aggravation if the card does get misused... by people you already know aren't quite so concerned with ethical behavior...) GC

This is indeed a good warning to all of us. And as a sort of public service announcement, don't forget about similar chances for scams from an email or phone call. Do NOT click on any link. ==>> But do NOT call any phone number in that email, either, no matter how "safe" that email may appear. Either go to your regular account and log in the way you usually do to get your "message" OR to get the official phone number (or look at the back of your charge card for the number, if that's appropriate). It drives me nuts when places like financial firms remind one to "never click on an email link", and then THEY send emails with something like, "there is new regulatory information about one of your mutual funds; please click here..." And it IS the financial firm, not a scam. But what about that directive? They are actually sort of training their customers to play right into the hands of a scammer... 😱 And then there's the book by Gavin de Becker: "The Gift of Fear". He's a security expert, and the bottom line is to "trust your gut". If something seems "off", don't just brush "that feeling" away... I think he meant it more for physical safety, but financial safety is also an issue where one might think/feel... "this is odd..." GC

And I also hope that those who prefer private excursions don't have pay for the group excursions not taken. It's been so perfect for us with Oceania. Aside from the lovely ship and wonderful service, we rarely drink cocktails other than an occasional sail-away celebration. We prefer fine wine, and the wines that are included in any package... those aren't the wines we enjoy. We prefer bringing wine on board and paying the corkage, so we can enjoy the wines that *we* enjoy. The wine is much less expensive that way, but mostly, we have trouble finding much that we really enjoy on the various wine lists. And as for airfare, we have always booked overseas J or F using awards, using airlines and routes that we prefer. Plus we often go elsewhere before or after a cruise. Hopefully, O won't really change away from what many of us have specifically enjoyed and appreciated! (And hopefully they won't continue to do away with the classic Specialties that have been on the Riviera and Marina. Those are by far our favorites, and we enjoy them several times during a cruise. Yum!) GC

This thread has brought back a terrific memory, something I used to wish for a chance to repeat... When I was teaching in a major graduate school, there were some presentations made by small groups in one seminar. One of the groups was *very* creative. I have completely forgotten what their topic was. But I willl never forget HOW they made their presentation: They were the RAISINS D'ETRE! (a small sign on front of each of them. lest the audience forget!) And they each "wore" a dark plastic garbage bag, with 2 cut-outs at the bottom for the legs (so, step into "your costume" 😉 ), and a cut-out near the top of each side for the arms. Then... the "tie" was secured (gently!) and tied like a bow around the neck. It was hysterical. The biggest hit of all of the presentations! I *must* find an occasion to do this! If nothing else, at least round up a few friends next Halloween... 😁 GC

In the case of travel insurance (or *any* insurance!), if there is any "clarification" necessary, we always ask the rep to point us to the EXACT wording in the policy that demonstrates what the rep is "claiming"... They may be confused (or even just making something up 😡 ) or it may not actually be relevant to the situation you are facing, etc. Point is, we want it in writing! We'd then make a pdf and save it. And we always try to get the name/extension number of the person we are speaking with, and write that down with the date. Pro Hint: Instead of saying (or, um, implying), "we want your name because if you screw it up we'll report you!" (always a terrific strategy - not!), we say something like, "Oh, could please I have your name or rep number and phone extension so if we get disconnected, I won't have to start all over again explaining my question to someone else...!?" (It often works. 😉 ) When we read insurance complaints, here or elsewhere, it's often (but not always) a situation where the policy never covered this particular situation in the first place. That could be because the traveler didn't fully understand the terms, or just never thought about "this" particular problem occurring. The second situation is harder to plan for/protect against. However, we've found that *calling* a broker like TripInsuranceStore can help, because they'll sometimes ask, "do you need coverage for X?" or "does your situation at home include Y?" - and those may indeed be relevant, but we wouldn't have thought about it in advance. And even with them, if I'm concerned about a specific type of coverage, I'll ask, "Please show me where in the policy terms this specific situation is covered..." GC

For anyone reading this thread, please ALWAYS double check anything you read here (or anywhere!). For example, in post #34, the following is written: "Cancel For Any Reason - ... it is Cancel for any reason, not Interrupt for any reason. It is valid (as a credit for a future trip) up until the day your program begins." For at least some (many?) policies, CFAR coverage is valid >> until 48 hours before your planned trip start, NOT "until the day your program begins". Road Scholar's CFAR coverage may work that way ('til day program begins), but many other policies do not. So IF you wait until the "day of" travel, or even the "day before", it might be too late to invoke that CFAR coverage. That's a rough time to find out, when perhaps you could have canceled a day or two earlier... And many 3rd party CFAR policies give cash back (often 75%) that can be used whenever and for whatever one wishes... it's not a credit, one that may have a time limit. As always, one should make sure one reads - and understands - the terms of the specific policy that *you* purchase. There can be considerable variability among the policies' coverages. GC

Why not contact www.TripInsuranceStore.com They are a broker and deal with several vetted travel insurers (including Travel Insured, which is what we've used). But CALL them; don't rely upon short policy summaries. The "fine print" can *really* matter... You'll be able to compare choices and prices, and they'll help you figure out what types of coverage might be useful (the questions they sometimes ask can be as important as the questions you ask them). And they can help with claims if that ever becomes a problem. We've purchased quite a few policies, and had several claims, including a few large ones, all of which were paid promptly. GC

You should probably browse through some of the threads here, to get a sense of the experiences others have had with various vendors (although none of those are guarantees about what *your* experience would be, of course). We are among quite a few here who use www.TripInsuranceStore.com But CALL them, don't rely upon the short online summaries of the various policy choices. The owner, Steve, posts here sometimes to answer questions. They'll also ask you some questions to try to help you find the policy that best suits your needs. (Any frail family members not traveling with you? Do you want Cancel For Any Reason? Any pre-existing conditions? Note: "Pre-existing conditions" has a VERY different definition for travel insurance than in our everyday life.) And they can help with claims if you need that. We've purchased quite a few policies from them after reading about them here on CC, and yup, we've had several claims, including a few large ones. To get the best choice of policies, one should start the coverage within 10-20 days of the FIRST deposit (refundable or not). It varies by state. There are still good choices if one misses that deadline... GC

What we do is ask the pharmacist for an extra label for every med, and we ask about 2-3 weeks before we actually need them. Then we get tiny ziploc-style baggies, slap a label on each one, and count out however many pills/tablets/etc., we'll be taking. (We always take an extra week, or two if it's a longer trip. That's in case of any serious delay getting home, for any of a variety of possible reasons.) We also have printed copies of the original scripts and a letter from the physician for any controlled substance or injectable, stating it is required for medical reasons. And we also have copies on our laptops, and thus in the cloud as backup. We only change all of this, including the little baggies, every few years for meds that stay the same, so it's not at all burdensome once we've got it all in place the first time. These little ziplocs can have most of the air just pressed out as one closes each, and then they lie nice and flat and take up very little space. [About the small Rx bottles? Our pharmacies here have discontinued the smallest size bottles, and *always* dispense in large/medium or jumbo size. It's crazy. Often a 90 day supply of small pills won't even get to 1/4 of the height - and the rest is all wasted. For occasional tiny pills, or a smaller quantity, they barely cover the bottom of the container! And the containers are round, so there's lots of wasted space between them.] We keep this "stuff" in a little travel pouch just about all the time, ready to go, and just fill up the little ziplocs when needed. We also ALWAYS double check the drug laws of foreign countries. (It's not obvious. For example, Japan absolutely FORBIDS any quantity of original formulation Sudafed. NO exceptions, full stop.There's a newer formulation that is allowed.) We do Google searches to find the official governmental website pages for bringing meds into the country (not for commercial purposes; that's different). Anyway, unless we have a new Rx, we are just about always ready to go. To make up these little bags/labels and copies/etc., each time would be.... annoying, to say the least! 😠 And nope, we've never been "inspected", but that might be because of our appearance and age (?). A few times when we've been asked about what we are bringing, I'll mention "Yes, some prescription medicine", and reach for the little pouch. By the time I have my hand on it, we are typically given a smile and waved away (or waved away without the smile). Usually, there aren't any questions at all. Because of what we do carry with us, we don't want to be found to *not* have the proper documentation, especially in *some* countries! One "unpleasant" experience is more than we want... GC

There are many discussions about this on this subsection of CC: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/114-disabled-cruise-travel/ I'll try to find one of my posts, with detail about how we handle this for *all* international travel, much of which is to countries with stronger "issues". There is a wide variety of opinions about how careful one should be. Our feeling is that when crossing international borders, "better safe than sorry", and a bit of prep for one trip is what we then keep handy for other trips, so it's rather easy. (I don't know if you can search to find some of the other discussions; the CC search function isn't always particularly user friendly...) GC

Oh dear. Is white chocolate *really* chocolate!? 😕 Shouldn't it have a slightly different name? Or, I suppose I should refer to myself as "addicted to cocoa", not "addicted to chocolate"? GC

I always thought that Oceania's previous policy of "cold breakfast for steerage" was... beneath a line of this caliber. That restriction just didn't fit, in my mind, so I'm very glad to see it disappear. (And note: this did not affect us personally, so it wasn't sour grapes.) GC

What are you looking for in this trip? For us, a trip to Bermuda would definitely include *warm* water, and that's not going to happen at that time of year. On the other hand, the Bahamas would very likely have warm water (been there, done that, at that time of year, albeit quite some time ago). But not everyone heads to Bermuda simply for the warm ocean water. It depends upon what you want. And some people care more about "being on a cruise" than the actual destination. GC

It's better than that! 😉 We always tell our Butler that any "Privacy" sign is *not* for them, but for everyone else. That is, they should knock, pause, and then just come in. IF we do want privacy, the door will be bolted, and of course, we wouldn't do that when we are expecting something. So the breakfast table is quietly rolled in, and sometimes we are already awake. But other times, that aroma of coffee and bacon does wake us, perhaps along with a few very gentle clinks of the china. THAT is the way to wake up! If we say "good morning" or anything at all, we'll always get a very cheerful reply, but the Butler has never said anything to us in the morning unless one of us spoke first, or they see us sitting up, etc. And likewise, dinners are just wheeled in as well. 🙂 (If we are changing or such, that door will, of course, be bolted.) Yes, we are very spoiled when we cruise (when there are Butlers; some cruises we've taken don't even have room service, but we enjoy them all!). GC

It doesn't matter how "loud" or whatever a person or group is, what the venue is, or whatever else is happening there... To have someone make a threat to "take my face off" is so far beyond any possible understanding of appropriate behavior...!?? 😡 GC

We've make all requests through our Butler. And one thing we stress during our first meeting is that we are almost always flexible on timing, so if we happen to request something for a busy time, just let us know, and we'll be happy to change the time... and on the off chance we can't, we'll say so (thus... "really, do ask!"). We tend to use our Butlers quite a bit, with almost all breakfasts served, so we wake to the pleasant aroma of coffee and bacon (or have that not too long after we awake). We love a couple of the Specialty restaurants, with some real favorites. So if we can't get extra reservations, we might ask to have some favorite dinners served in our suite. On all ships (and in all hotels), we request menus from each restaurant and a copy of all wine lists. It's nicer to browse through them, rather than scroll on a screen. And yes, we do tip generously. The Butlers make a huge difference in our enjoyment. I also have some mobility problems, so we tend to spend more time in our suite than we otherwise would. GC

We have had excellent experiences starting with plain Google, with something like, "private tour of the Vatican" or such. Then we look at what shows up. Some are clearly not for us... they are explicitly large groups (of strangers, put together by the vendor). We want something for just us (or in some cases, a few others, arranged by us). Then we email a few likely possibilities, and if they don't have email contact, that's a disqualifier for us anyway. We want a way to contact them! We'll ask if they could arrange a tour that includes, say, art history, or whatever (and also anything we do *not* want to spend time on, etc.). And then we end with a question something like, "given what we've mentioned, is there anything else you think we'd enjoy including?' The responses (or lack thereof!) tell us a *LOT*. We've found some terrific guides, usually directly with the guide him/herself. Our guide for the Vatican and a prior day in more general "Rome", had done a Ph.D. thesis mostly using the Vatican library, so he was familiar with a lot of background there (and some back routes and corridors!). We also use CC, as suggested. We found a terrific small excursion company in the Caribbean, because something about a CC report piqued our interest. We wrote asking about some specifics, and they put together an amazing day for us. We then used them again on a return visit. It's the ability to communicate directly, and make *your* interests known, etc., that can make all the difference. GC

On some *other* decks, there are cabins between the Vista Suites, so I read your post as you wrote it. We absolutely love forward-facing... to see where we are going (yes, even if what is seen sometimes is just more water 😉 ). GC