CDNPolar

Hey fellow Canadians, Some time back someone in the Canadian forum mentioned ToGo Insurance as a good option for Canadians. I have done a search here on CC for "ToGo" and nothing has come up. I find that their rates are reasonable and their stability period for pre-existing conditions is only 60 days. Question is, has anyone actually made a claim with ToGo? Were they good to work with? Did they pay out quickly and efficiently? Rates are one thing, but the ease of working with the insurance company is more of my concern.

We use a camera backpack that has one of the openings that is against your back, if wearing on your back, or against your chest if you are wearing in front of you. Most people have things to carry other than the wallet and passport, so the backpack comes in handy, and if you put your valuables in the "backdoor" pocket where the camera gear is intended to go, it is safe unless they lift your entire backpack from you.

We have travelling as a couple, and I have for business used Viator many, many times and have been very happy with them. As mentioned they are a consolidator and reseller and they are owned by TripAdvisor. Often the tour end location is not where the tour starts. This is just how it is sometime, especially with walking tours as the tour may start close to the cruise terminal for that convenience, but will end a distance away. I have always known that the end point could be different and so we have arranged our tours with that in mind. It is all there in black and white for you to see, and if you are not looking closely then the assumption that it will end where it starts will catch you off guard for sure.

Viking Ocean ships all have free self service laundry.

The stability part of policies is something that I am really focused on now. We buy an annual package. Our annual package expired April 5th. This is JUST for TC/TI and does not include medical. This policy enforces a 3 month / 90 day stability period against the renewal date each year which means any pre-existing conditions must be stable from January 5, 2024 to April 5 2024 or the pre-existing conditions will not be covered during that policy year. I had a medication change mid-April- the medication was stopped because I have been stable for 3 years and in my doctor's eyes I don't need the medication now. Because of this, I would not not meet the stability requirements for the entire policy year. Because of this we are delaying the re-purchase of the annual plan to mid-July so that I will be past any pre-existing condition stability period. Crazy that you have to dig in so deep to understand what is covered and what is not. Many people in my circle of travelling friends don't understand that the stoppage of a medication or reduction or increase of dose makes you "unstable". Now, in response to your statement that adding to a policy changes stability - I have to investigate that...

This may have been your experience, however if you read the policies, they explicitly state that you must call the insurance company before seeking medical treatment unless it is impossible to do so. This is only one company that we have used but every medical policy I have read has this statement using similar language: I would say that you were lucky that they did not have an issue with this. The statements always include the word "may" and be denied. So they have the ability to deny a claim if you don't contact them first.

I am happy if it curbs users. Quicker transit for the rest of us. Frankly we are at a point in life where if it is convenient, we pay for it. For those in the know, we have a HWY 407 Transponder but might only use it once a month. However, if we can get there via the 407 over the 401 you bet I am going to pay the toll.

With Viking we have always "engaged" with the Crew to a larger extent. With our Cabin Attendant(s) we try to engage with them on day one and then try to chat with them whenever we can. Same with the servers in the dining rooms, and the wine servers. When we find a team in the Restaurant we ask for them nightly by indicating this to the Host in The Restaurant and nightly we get to know them and again, engage with them. We find that we have a better experience when we actively engage them in conversation and generally interact with them. I know some don't want to engage in conversation with the Crew and that is okay too. For us any decline has been more in the menu and food side of things. Not a lot, but it is like "shrinkflation" you don't notice it blatantly but it is there if you look.

I agree with you on your points. We would likely cancel our future bookings and move to Oceana.

...and could you even hear the announcements? How many times have we been in busy airports all around the world and in most areas of the departure lounge you cannot hear anything that the gate agent is saying.

I may be a pessimist but I believe that nothing is free - today. I just got contacted on LinkedIn to attend a full day conference in Toronto. Looks like an amazing line up of speakers and topics. Could not find the price for the day anywhere, but assumed that it would be in the range of $600 to $800 for the day. Went back to the person inviting me - oh and she just connected with me on LinkedIn the day before, and she is from overseas - and she indicated that I would be her guest and that it would cost me nothing. Why me? You don't know me, so what value am I bringing? This would be an expensive event to put on. There is a scam of some kind tied up in this invitation. Nothing is free.

You are suggesting that the onboard booking bonus or credit was up to $2,000.00? We have booked a number of future cruises while onboard but never, never have we seen a credit that is this big. Generally it is a $400 pp past guest discount, 6 months payment (which we always get anyway) and an OBC of a couple hundred for the cruise we are on. This may add closer to $600 in savings over booking off the ship. Do you have more intel on this? Unless you are counting in Free Air but that is available to anyone booking on or off a ship? Like @Squawkman indicated, you can only do this on an Ocean Ship and not on River.

This is perhaps too personal of a question, but are you going to buy Viking when they IPO?

Curious what you want to suggest?

Yeah, it may be harder for your Mom but I have read that others have achieved the SSBP when their adult cabin mate did not drink. You should have organized the cabin occupancy (on paper) as you and your mom and your sister and stepdad. You would stay in your preferred way - you and your sister - but for the booking and the SSBP you would have no worries this way. The other way to look at it is that the SSBP is nothing special. You still have access to everything Viking sells in liquor, wine, and beer, you just pay for it as you go. Since you get free / included beer and wine with lunch and dinner, and if these are ok for you then you have to justify spending $25 per day above that in other drinks. A lot of Viking drinks are only $8.00 or less. Let us know how you make out.

Interesting YouTube on Viking's potential IPO and what it means for you and me. I don't necessarily support this opinion, but it is interesting to see this guy's opinion.

Be careful on expedition type cruises, and if there are any "high risk" activities. The typical - emphasis on typical - medical plan does not cover injury from zip lining, scuba diving, rock climbing, parasailing, etc. You can buy insurance for these, but the typical policy does not cover these types of activities.

Every insurance policy that I have seen for travel when it comes to medical, it is very explicit that YOU must call the insurance company at the first sign of illness and/or before treatment starts unless it is an accident that prevents you from calling... This would never be the role of the doctor, clinic, or hospital.

We did not do this excursion, but here is the full description when you get your final documents. Passau Salzburg Highlights Price: $385.00 CAD Duration: 9.50 Hours DEPASSEO04 Date: December 06, 2024 08:15 AM Available City of Mozart and “The Sound of Music” -- Drive with your guide past charming mountain villages, rolling hills and pristine lakes. Upon arrival in this glorious city, enjoy a guided walking tour of the Italianate Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its high-baroque architecture. Pass by the Hagenauer House at Getreidegasse 9, the birthplace of renowned classical composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Salzburg’s favorite son; today, it is one of Austria’s most visited museums. See the Domplatz, dominated by the 249-foot 17th-century Dom and St. Peter’s Abbey, where Mozart premiered the Great Mass in C Minor in 1783. Savor lunch in Austria’s oldest restaurant, named for the church, as classically trained singers and musicians regale you with songs in the spirit of the musical.

Sorry @gabelle9 as this discussion has gotten way off your original question. I hope you have your answer! Welcome to Cruise Critic!

Sorry - thought you were doing Antarctica~

Enjoy! You will love it. Here is our personal video from our Cruise.

Very sorry for you to be experiencing this, and of course for you Dad to be going through this. What @iamtrustworthy said, but you should (IMO) be covered in the way you have described the chain of events. The one thing that I would suggest is that you will need doctor/hospital reports, letters, diagnosis, etc. Start to collect these kinds of things. At least keep track of the doctors that you have seen and the dates. What was the first symptom, was it a family doctor, what was the referral process, etc. Your insurance when you start the claim may ask for their specific forms to be completed by the doctor, or they may take reports signed by the doctor. We had to collect a lot of this information for a cancellation claim, and we also had to pay a few hundred dollars for some forms to be completed by the doctors. Our insurance claim started with - on the insurance company request - on a report from our family physician that first noticed an abnormality in blood work and then there were several doctors after that and they wanted an accounting of all the appointments and tests to the diagnosis.

I personally think that a Caribbean cruise is a great way to start. That was my first cruise - Western Caribbean. As we were coming out of Covid and wanted desperately to cruise we did a Panama Canal partial crossing out of Ft. Lauderdale returning to Ft. Lauderdale. You probably won't see us on another Caribbean cruise soon but that is just preference for us. I am not saying that there is nothing to do or see with some Caribbean islands, but we in general are not "warm or hot weather people". We are just more focused on Europe and the APAC region now in our interests. Look carefully at the solo charges by cruise line. They can be massively different. Look also at the areas of some ships that are adult only and what the cost is for you to be able to stay in or access these areas. Some are premium fare for adult only areas. Exciting for you to be planning this. We are such "cruise people" and so many of our friends have never been on a cruise and for some reason very negatively doubtful that they would ever enjoy one.... but they have never tried one.

I like "wild guesser" and will steal that... I just replace "Man" or "Woman" now with person because it works for every human on the planet unless one day we have people identifying as "non-human".