GeezerCouple

Ooops... apologies BermudaBound2014! Many thanks! (as always!) Those were great videos. They don't address the balcony/view problems, but they do give a terrific sense of those two slides. I'm sure some (many!?) will enjoy them thoroughly. It was also nice to see the "pouch" that the slider gets into for the blue ride. I wasn't sure how a "dry slide" was actually going to work! GC

That balcony picture is worth thousands of words. Thank you! And you've also made my other point. You wouldn't mind that. But many of us would. (We would be furious: I like to nap on a lounger on the balcony... once I've fallen asleep after reading peacefully for a while. 🙂 Or I love to take a nap and look out through the balcony glass doors to see the sea... until I don't anymore... 😉 ) IF NCL would just make it VERY clear at the POINT OF PURCHASE, then I'd not be making my comments. Also that video from cruiseny4life was VERY helpful. Thanks! Not my cup of tea, but I can understand how some might have a ball. GC

[emphasis added] Sure, IF SOMEONE KNOWS about the slides, chances are pretty good they could select a cabin/suite that where those tubes are *not* a problem. But most passengers are not on CruiseCritic, and NCL's website (both deck plans and cabin/suite category) do not make it obvious that there might be a problem for some, many, or most people. That is, like the way some cabins are described as "obstructed view" (e.g., due to lifeboats) at the time someone is making a reservation. NCL could have done the same thing about the tubes-on-the-balcony or right in front of them. That's all... just label them so it's obvious by the cabin category. Then, if someone is okay with a "tube view" or "shared balcony" (if there's room on all of those balconies for the passenger in the first place?), perhaps at a lower price (which would make sense), they can select that. Let the invisible hand of the marketplace sort it out, but *with* appropriate information. And Hallux, it's the same for the non-Haven cabins (including accessible). They are *also* paying their good money for what most would assume is a regular cabin of the category selected. And *most* of those ARE a "regular balcony cabin", etc. Just label the ones that aren't. Full disclosure, etc. GC

Is there still activity on and off the ship? The SUVs? Any news being given onboard? GC

I think you mean 11pm local time? What is the Breakaway's itinerary? I didn't know she included Boston. GC

It's interesting that hospitals usually offer ginger ale to patients (and crackers). I find that Coca Cola settles my stomach... and when I was little, and our doctor made house calls, he'd have a bottle of nasty, thick brown syrup if children were throwing up, and we'd be given something like a teaspoon of it. It turned out that syrup was similar (or identical to?) Coca Cola syrup, but without sugar. Blech. But it did seem to work. GC

Double check whether you need any documentation from a physician. There is often a requirement like that. In other words, insurers don't let passengers cancel and "declare themselves sick" so they can get their money back... for obvious reasons. NOT having a physician's documentation, and possibly a visit --> at the time (virtual may be fine) is a reason I see for complaints about travel insurance not paying. Don't make that mistake! See what the insurance policy itself wording requires and and do it that way. GOOD LUCK to your husband! GC

You might want to contact www.TripInsuranceStore.com and ask them about those two policies, or whether there are other policies that might be better for *your* specific travel concerns. That means a phone call so that you can ask them questions, and so that they can ask you some as well (e.g., do you have any relatives who are not traveling with you, and you'd want to return if they got very ill, etc.; there are many other issues to consider). If you start the coverage when the deposits are paid (or within approximately 20 days), you'll have the largest selection of types of coverage. This may or may not be something that matters to you, and you'd know that after the first time discussing this with TIS. We also insure both cruise and land-only trips, and the same policy works for us with all trips thus far. We also get MedJetAssist, which will medevac us back to the hospital of *our* choice (in our case, our regular hospital, with our records and physicians), even if it is not "medically necessary". One must be admitted as an inpatient (not ER or Observation), and one must be stable enough to travel at least by full air ambulance with medical staffing. TIS sells this coverage as well; we get the annual policy as that also covers us for assorted trips (over 150 miles from home) throughout the year... Enjoy your trips! GC

Close, but not quite... Take a look at the balcony that "belongs with" 15796... I'd surely want to know about that before booking... and not everyone realizes the importance of looking at the deck plans. Not everyone is a CC member; most cruise passengers aren't. And IF that was the cabin/suite I had, I'd at least expect to pay less than the mirror image 15196. That still has a friendly tube in sight, but at least there seems to be *some* usable balcony space. It's just a matter of providing the appropriate information, so that consumers know what they are getting... One deck below? It looks like there's not going to be much usuable balcony there, either. Or view. Or in 12810 or 12210...!? I also think that the passengers in what seems to be a Haven suite (but not sure) 14900 aren't going to be real pleased with their view, and it's NOT the just the fact that the next cabins/suites jut out. Nope, that doesn't appear to be the only problem there... However, you are indeed correct. If all goes as planned, no riders will actually be *landing* on those balconies. Does that really mean there's "no problem" there from a passenger or consumer perspective? Just TELL people when they are making reservations! Why is that not an obvious thing to do? Charging a bit less would also be nice, but it's being able to "know what you are buying" that is really critical! [Apologies if I got any of the cabin/suite numbers wrong.] GC

Sorry about the injury! You should probably post this question on the HAL sub-forum for more specific information. One suggestion: Do NOT have the start your interaction with HAL include the words "lawsuit", "attorney", or such. Chances are very good that the instant you raise that, the entire situation will disappear into their legal department, and that may slow things down. If HAL handles all such messages through Legal, then they'll do that anyway. Might it might not be necessary. HAL probably has their own insurance, so minimally, they would probably pass this along to them. But I'm NOT an expert about any of this! Good luck, and hope she heals quickly. I'm recovering from a broken foot, so she has my very sincere sympathy. (Note: The spider lost the fight in the end... 😉) GC

My first thought upon reading the threat title was about whether the OP realized there was a lower age limit for "infants", in case they meant something like 4 months old. But that certainly wasn't the case! It was startling to see the "16 months" as the age. IF OP hadn't referred to the child as "an infant", I'd have been more inclined to think there were special needs involved... and there still might be. But if so, why not mention that so that the suggestions and advice can be more appropriate, such as mentioning "Special Needs" department or making more specific suggestions? So I also wonder if this is a first time parent who doesn't realize how infants develop into toddlers into young children, etc. However, regardless of the reason, this parent apparently does have some special needs for their child, so they should definitely contact the Special Needs department of whichever cruise line is involved. crichessill hasn't responded after the first post, but has been following/reacting from the start. And they are new to CC, so perhaps all of this is very new and overwhelming... or ...? Otherwise, providing more information would allow other CC members to give more relevant suggestions/comments/etc. GC

And there is a time deadline. I think (but please double check) that it is currently only 30 days, after which... no transfers. GC

And if you are planning to take any new medicine if you get motion sickness, I'd strongly recommend that you try it at home at least once before traveling. IF you have any untoward side effects, best to learn about it while you are still home! GC

Yes, speak with them. Please make sure that you are very clear about your plans with respect to the AirBnB. And follow the "rules" (TIS will help clarify them) religiously. One of the worst things that can happen is to find out too late - after filing a claim - that somehow you didn't quite meet ALL the rules. No point in paying for insurance if it isn't going to pay if you need it! And of course, the best is not to need it, but the next best is if you need it, that they pay as expected... Once you work with them and especially after you have purchased a policy from them, please don't hesitate to call and ask, "What if we want to do X instead of Y?" They'll let you know if you can change it, how you might need to do it, or that you... can't without risking the coverage. If they aren't sure, they'll contact the actual insurer to *make sure*! Keep in mind, that they want to make you happy, too. So it's in their best interest to help you get a policy that "works" for you. But -->> you MUST tell them everything relevant, or they might not recommend the most appropriate policy. Steve is the owner, but his associates have been with him for quite some time, so they aren't newbies, etc. If there's some tricky issue, they might pass it along to Steve, but otherwise, they're always fine, too. They also don't upsell. That is nice. And Steve once actually talked us out of buying a policy. This was after he knew a bit about us, from policies and a major claim (paid in fullas with all of our claims). As he was taking the details, he suddenly stopped and asked if we really needed insurance for this particular trip. He explained why.... what it was he thought he remembered about us (and probably also from some excellent note-taking in the past), and... sure enough... we did NOT need that insurance! Keep in mind, he could have kept quiet and sold us a policy, and we'd never have thought twice about it. They are very patient, so ask questions if you don't understand something fully. And make sure that you understand all deadlines, for purchasing the coverage and for other trip costs, etc. That can make all the difference. We travel using awards for all long-haul overseas travel, so all we need to insure for that are the "fees" such as to re-bank the points, and that's relatively trivial in the scheme of things. However, that also can mean that we don't have that "insurance coverage" to pay for return tickets... and last minute changes could be really tricky using awards, especially for premium seats/beds. The coverage for trip interruption tends to be 150% of the trip costs, taking into account these extra expenses... perhaps hotels paid for but not used, when new hotels also need to be paid for when the trip ends early, etc., or to cover the extra cost of last minute airfare. But that one part works best when one had paid cash for those tickets. We just keep that in the back of our minds. [We use a service to help us get the awards seats. He could probably find *something* for us on short notice, but it's not guaranteed. Worst case: someday in an emergency, we might need to pay cash for those pricey one-way premium tickets, but hopefully not...] GC

Did you try calling them? If they don't answer right away (they usually do, but that can obviously vary with the timing of when calls come in), do leave a message and they'll call you back. I obviously can't know what happened with your email inquiry, but it's worth another try, in my mind. GC

Contact a travel insurance broker or agent. They can help you with coverage that best meets your particular needs. We use - and recommend - www.TripInsuranceStore.com But CALL them, don't just use their website. We always suggest that, but especially with your specific family's needs. We've traveled with family and worked with similar issues. Enjoy your trip together! GC

Definitely contact a travel insurance broker for something like this, with your assorted questions and the type of trip (2 cruises, hotels in between, etc.). We use www.TripInsuranceStore.com But CALL them to discuss exactly what your needs are, and they'll also probably ask some questions to try to help find you a policy that matches your needs. Yes, many policies (and the type we get) allows one to start the coverage within 10-20 days of the FIRST payment (refundable or not). It depends in part on the state of residence. After that, we have a similar time limit as we make any non-refundable payments along the way. Then we increase the policy if needed. Our policies start with $500 increments, and then change to $1,000 increments. So if one made a $250 deposit, and then paid a $150 non-refundable payment for something else, it's still within the first $500 coverage. There are other choices to be made, but let the experts help you with some of those decisions. My guess from your description is that if you have a payment that would be non-refundable at sometime prior to your departure (those hotels/AirBnBs?), then they'd need to be included. We always try to make *refundable* hotel reservations for this reason. In some cases, due to the coverage "increments", a night or two at a hotel wouldn't change the premium anyway, unless we jump an interval. But that's a question to ask the specialist who handles travel insurance. GC

This is another good reason to consider using a travel insurance broker or agent. They should go to bat for you; they sold you the policy and got a commission. If you purchase directly from the insurer, there's no one "on your side" if there are any difficulties. (And I'm guessing that because agents and brokers sell in some volume, the insurers "take their calls" in a way that is different from a single customer calling...) If all of the insurers are swamped (e.g., due to lots of claims such as with a couple of hurricanes, or too few employees such as with a pandemic) then not every claim can be serviced with the same regular speed. GC

You called them and no answer or no return call? They are usually good about that, but this is a holiday weekend... Is it possible that most of the "costs" to a travel insurer are from the various cancellation/delay/etc., expenses, and so the cost wouldn't be much less if they excluded the medical? (It could be the other way; perhaps medical is the biggest share of the claims. I don't have any knowledge about that.) My thought comes from our experiences to date. We've had quite a few policies, and several claims, including a few large claims. (All paid without any nonsense, fortunately.) However, almost all of the claims were for cancellation or interruption expenses (we did have to be careful to make sure that any possible links to pre-existing conditions wouldn't interfere with those). I think the "medical costs" were less than $2,000 total, even though the total of the claims to date went well into 5 digits. We are (obviously!) among those where we figured there would be more than average probabilities of claims, for a variety of reasons (including a very elderly and frail relative). The one hospital stay overseas happened to be a place where they didn't bill any patients, even though we tried to insist on paying. (We don't pay taxes in that country, after all, and it didn't seem fair, but they insisted they didn't even have any way to accept money if we gave it to them. Pretty amazing! That trip included a couple of visits from the physician that the hotel called, before he told them to call an ambulance.) And although we get expensive policies (including Cancel For Any Reason - even though we've never used it... yet?), we are still "ahead". That is, our claims have paid us more than all of the premiums combined, including the majority of trips where we had no claims. [We very much wish it had NOT been that way!] Note: The CFAR coverage gives us great peace of mind, and there were a few time that we came extremely close to using it. So, at least with us, the insurer paid almost nothing for actual "medical costs", and quite a lot for all of the other assorted costs. GC

This still seems like the most absurd plan, assuming NCL is expecting their guests to *pay* for the cabins or suites that are in any way affected by these monstrosities right outside their window, or "sharing" some balcony space with them. However, one tiny bit of "sanity" (if I dare call it that!?) is that what seem to be completely enclosed, opaque tubes... may (!?) have some clear sections, or at least one clear section? Toward the bottom of this review: https://www.cruisediary.de/taufreise-der-norwegian-prima-von-reykjavik-nach-amsterdam/ There is a trio of photos and the middle one shows what appears to be clear section of a tube, with what appears to be a body in it...?? Slightly lower in that review, there seems to be a long shot of that same section. So... ARE there actual "clear sections" (or just one!?) for those who are taking (is it "The Rush"?) so they can get a very brief glimpse of some blur other than the inside of a dark tube? That's of limited help for the slider, if it's still mostly opaque and dark. (I sure hope that's not a moment when they blink.) And it's no help to those who are negatively affected in the "comfort" of their own cabins or suites, and balconies. Thus, it still seems like one of the very worst ideas for "cruise ship extras"....... 😱 Can anyone confirm if there are indeed any "clear" sections of those tubes? If so, how many? And are any right in front of someone else's cabin or suite? GC

Hi rimmit, Someone posted a link to your thread, about possible difficulties with payments, etc. (to put it mildly!). So... how is your wife doing now? We certainly hope that there has been good progress. And your children? Best wishes, GC

It appears you posted this question elsewhere before, and you mentioned that you have worked with TripInsuranceStore.com. What did they say about this question? Many of us would recommend that you contact them about the type of coverage you want or how best to arrange coverage. GC

We brought an 18 month old grand with us a few years ago. He was fine with mushy food or things like crackers (similar to teething biscuits). On the second dinner, we had a waitress who was TERRIFIC. She quickly asked what HE wanted/needed to be happy, and brought it fast. That was a selection of plain spaghetti, which he enjoyed grabbing with his hands and stuffing whatever he got into his mouth. We left it all to the parents... (!). He also enjoyed some crackers, milk, and apple juice, and I'm forgetting what they ordered for him for 'real food' when the meal was served. The goal was to keep him happy before regular orders arrived. She was amazing. We started asking for her table every evening, and if she saw us across the dining room, she was on her way to get "his things". She would have brought us anything reasonable that we mentioned. She kept the little guy happy, she kept us happy, and she kept all of the neighboring diners happy. (And she brought some extra napkins and water at the end of the meal to help us clean his hands and face. He was usually a big hit everywhere he went - cute and well-behaved, and yes, I'm somewhat biased, but not totally! 😉 That also made it easier.) She got some very nice tips from us, well deserved. If you can find a good member of the waitstaff and stay with them, that could make it very easy indeed. GC

I strongly agree that you should speak with a travel insurance specialist. We are among those who have worked with www.TripInsuranceStore.com ever since we learned about them here on CC in 2013. As an aside, we've purchased many policies through them and we've had several claims, including some large ones. All were paid with no nonsense. In good part, that's because Steve and his associates there helped us understand what was and what was not covered by the various choices of policies so we could find one that met our specific needs. But note: There is no universal "14-day time limit" to starting the coverage in order to get certain types of coverage. As mentioned above, insurance is regulated by the states, so this timing can depend upon not just the policy, but which state you live in. My understanding is that it could be as short as 10 days or as long as 20 days, but please do *NOT* depend upon my statement: check with the specialists! And I think there are policies to include pre-existing conditions that are available later, from at least one insurer. Again, check with an insurance agent/broker. Most of the travel insurance complaints we read about, here on CC or elsewhere, end up being due to some misunderstanding about the terms of the policy, so make sure that *you* read your policy. Any questions or things you don't understand? Ask! The type of coverage we get requires that we insure ALL non-refundable pre-paid costs, but there are other policies that do not require this. GC

This: "I do like laying in bed and looking out over the ocean as well." A cruise is a great time to relax, and even luxuriate in a bit of pure laziness sometimes. And we love watching the sea, no matter what is/is not happening. So "A Bed With A View" is very important! 🙂 We would definitely dislike a suite where the bed/bedroom is in its own little area without a view. We've seen some situations where a nice suite has a separate bedroom, but that BR is sort of behind the LR. That's not something we are likely to choose, ever. An ideal would be a suite where both the bed and a sitting area have a nice view. And if we are getting smaller accommodations, then yes, we'd want the bed with the view, not the sitting area. This type of choice has occasionally made a real difference such that we chose a different ship or even a different cruiseline to avoid a bed without a view. GC