tupper10

I would call Steve at Insure my Trip or one of his other agents and let them suggest a good policy that works for you and your husband. You don't even have to purchase when you call them and can do that after you consider all your options.

I researched medical policies since our Medicare doesn't cover medical expenses outside of the US, and found GeoBlue offers a good yearly policy for medical and repatriation. When we went very far away, in a remote area with questionable medical care we bought Medjet but you need to be under 75 to purchase it for a reasonable fee. AARP discounts the Medjet policy for its members. MedJet will fly you home to your hospital of choice, on a chartered medical jet. You can buy a one or two year policy. We had to cancel a cruise this year for medical reasons. I had Trawick travel insurance and I received a full refund in less than 2 weeks from submission of my forms. Some of the yearly policies don't offer enough coverage so I would suggest you ask one of the qualified agents recommended on the CC insurance site to see which policy(ies) work best for you.

We have used progressive and now use Travelers since they have policies you pay per year vs getting a raise in rates every 6 months. Insurance cost in Fl for auto and homeowners has gone crazy.

Katherine as one who has had migraines since childhood - a serious headache like you had should not be self diagnosed as a migraine. Please call your doctor about this as bad headaches can be a sign of something else going on. Sorry to hear that so many people are not doing well but at least some of the dailies are on great cruises or are on their way to great vacations. I hope that things work out for Tana, glad the nurse came and is giving her more treatments. Hopefully Terry you can catch up on some sleep today. I am doing okay - still having post op pain but doctor says it is normal. I am so glad I had this well before my son's wedding, hopefully I will be fine in a month.

Fall transatlantic it may be way too cold and windy for the cabana - just my 2 cents. I would only get one for warm weather cruising, but that is me.

We did one on the Statendam and other than awful piped music which I asked them to turn down it was fine. It did get very hot due to the sun but we were on a non holiday cruise post covid so the ship was pretty empty and I could 'switch sides' of the cabana since most were empty from the AM to the PM. We didn't have an issue with kids or loud neighbors - again though the ship was probably 1/2 full. Based on what I am reading I don't think we will get one again - and that is why I keep booking cruises on the smaller ships which have chaises on the promenade deck - which have shade and don't cost extra.

We switched from Celebrity to HAL for 2 reasons: 1. the lack of outside promenade decks and the fact that Celebrity now restricts access to portions of the ship 2. the cost of cruises with non refundable deposit on Celebrity is well more than HAL advantage fare.

@Mr. Boston so sorry for your loss. Not much going on here. I can't really do much at all, but each day I am feeling better. I am now able to walk for a much longer time, though sitting is still an issue. Thank you for all the dailies who keep this going. I enjoy seeing the pictures of all the different ports, some of which I doubt I will ever visit in person.

Glad everyone made it to Fl. Now we just have to hope @TiogaCruiser's husband's luggage makes it as well. Your travel insurance will cover the cost of clothing if you have trip interruption insurance so make sure you keep receipts for anything you buy. Good luck to all and hoping everyone has a fabulous cruise. Wave to us tomorrow!!!

I would ask your doctor about flying and traveling. Depending on the type of pneumonia you may be contagious, also, if your lungs are not fully recovered flying is not recommended. To be frank the last thing you want to do is be sick on your cruise. Perhaps you can call HAL and see if you can move your cruise to a later date vs canceling. It never hurts to ask.

@cruising sister so sorry to hear about your friend's son. Our children's best friends are family to us, please accept my sympathies on your loss. I hope that all the travelers make it to FLL to take their cruises on time and with their luggage. The weather should be decent from now on. Jazzy you can take me off of the care list since my recovery will be a long haul but I am doing much better and had my first full night of sleep last night, what a bonus. It seems like the weather is playing havoc all over the world- I saw that there is huge typhoon headed to Australia. Weather in Europe as we have seen has been wild, and here in Fl, FLL got 26 inches of rain in the last storm. In Palm Beach County we got rain but nothing close to what occurred due south of us. Vanessa I hope your doctor visit goes well today. @marshhawk I hope your test comes back fine so you can head to Alaska and have a great time. Debbie

The flooding in all of east Broward county is awful. There are many closures still and given that it is raining again I am not sure how good it will be driving there. I would take the turnpike after you get off of alligator alley which stays west of 95 and then stay due west of FLL. Just know the turnpike has tolls but they will bill the rental car company. You can try the area around Plantation which is not flooded. There are a number of hotels there and it is a nice area. We use Costco for all of our car rentals. I am getting an uber estimate of around 112.00 so if you can't find a rental car I would pre book uber or lyft. Good luck and what a bummer about the AA flight. The weather is supposed to be nice the rest of the week. Let us know how you make out.

@TiogaCruiser American Airlines has a flight leaving tomorrow non stop with seats and United has one on Saturday morning - to Miami. That is all I could fine. Good luck. What a mess.

If you booked through flight ease I think there is an emergency number to call - I copied and pasted this from the internet. "With this in mind, the following emergency phone numbers are available for your use: 1-800-628-4771. Holland America Line representatives are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year to assist you in any way they can, including assistance with travel delays and contacting loved ones." The other thing to do is text the airline or use social media - twitter or facebook to contact them to re book your flights due to cancellation error. I have found that posting on social media gets a very quick response from companies.

Glad you could re book. FLL is a mess not only the airport but the entire surrounding area is underwater. They got 26 inches or rain. Schools were closed today as well since people in Broward can't get anywhere due to flooded streets. Hopefully no more rain in Miami area we are getting more rain in Palm Beach but we didn't have the amount of rain they had just south of us. @luvteaching so sorry to hear about your husband. Hopefully he will do okay in the rehab place and then be able to come home ASAP.

FLL is a mess, yesterday there was massive rain there as well as tornado warnings though I am not sure if one actually happened. The airport roads are all flooded and they won't open until it is cleared. We are supposed to get more rain this afternoon as well so not sure what will happen with the airport. Sharon you made the correct decision to fly in early since it sounds like for people who have cruises leaving today they will miss the ship. Sharon and @TiogaCruisera FYI if you can fly into Palm Beach our airport is open. It is only 45 minutes from Fort Lauderdale. There are also plenty of hotels near the Palm Beach airport and you can just Uber to the ship. Stay safe everyone. I am feeling much better, but I better get up and get moving, the home health nurse comes soon.

Thanks to everyone for your positive thoughts. Jazzy so sorry to hear about your knee, I find it incredible that doctors now make you wait to be seen when complications happen. I hope your knee resolves. Happy Birthdays to all celebrating. I loved the pictures of grand kids and grand nieces/nephews. They are all adorable. I am doing much better than I was when I last posted. I think this will be a long haul but I am up and walking - not outside today, like the others here in Florida the winds are dangerous and I didn't want to walk outside in my precarious state. I have home health and home PT for now and next week I see the surgeon at the end of the week and presumably will be cleared to drive and do PT at a center. I can't post that often as it is hard to type ( I can't sit down for long) but reading the daily keeps me sane and I travel to the various ports of the day thanks to all who post here. Debbie - I loved the chicken with feta recipes but cooking for me won't be for a long time. I saved them to my recipe box. Thanks all for your prayers and for keeping me on the care list.

Just a very quick note since I am not really functional at all. Happy Bday and Happy Anniversary and good sailing to those going on cruises. The back surgery was successful though the post op and being 100% functional I think will be a long haul. I am very grateful that I was able to move the surgery date up to well before my son's wedding in June which gives me time to recuperate. I am also glad we canceled our European port intensive cruise for this summer and re booked for next summer, since I don't think I would have been up to it. I am up and walking but I can't sit down yet for any length of time so it is bed, up and walking, some PT exercises and back to the bed. I had thought I would be back to work (remotely) this Monday, but that will not be happening. I have to be able to sit down before I can work. Oh well I was told to take all the time I need and I guess I will have to do that. Reading the daily keeps me sane, even though right now it is hard for me to post. Thank you for putting me on the care list.

I haven't posted in awhile. Sorry that so many aren't feeling well. Gerry wow on helping the Ukrainian family - you and your community are wonderful. I am so impressed by all the people who keep this daily going. Sandy, Debbie, Vanessa, along with the drink and wine ohf the day. I also thank all the people who post pictures of the various cruise ports, it is such a great way of seeing the world. My back surgery is tomorrow - off to the hospital by 6 AM. Today was a mixed blessing day: On the negative front: I found out at 3:30 PM today that my pre op clearance had still not been faxed to the hospital by my PCP. When I called the office, I got the typical medical office phone system, a person off site answering the phone routing me to numerous extensions all of which went to voice mail with a message telling me that I would receive a call back by the end of business tomorrow and no way to actually reach a human being!! I finally got in the car and drove the 30 minutes to the office, hoping it was still open, which thankfully it was and got it taken care of. This absurd medical system in our country leaves a lot to be desired. On the wonderful front, at the same time I was doing all my pre op stuff, my DIL was in labor and we were waiting to hear about the new arrival. Our 4th baby grandchild arrived at 6:12 PM EDT, today. A beautiful baby girl. Unfortunately we won't get to meet her until June since with my back surgery I don't want to get on a plane and they live in NH. Thank heavens for Facetime and zoom. I probably won't be reading the Daily tomorrow so I am wishing everyone a wonderful day in advance. I

What I do is put the cruise on hold and then call - this way I don't lose the room that I want the agent can then answer all my questions. I always need to call since we usually book the advantage fare which is not available on their website. The hold is good for multiple days.

@cashmeremypuppydogWe had always wanted to do an expedition cruise to Antarctica but found the prices to be way too high for our budget. I went on a web site (sorry can't link it here on CC) that tracks cruise prices and put in a few to track. We ended up getting one well w/in our budget if we booked it immediately, which we did. Our cruise included the airfare to Ushuaia on a chartered plane. We had the worst room on the ship but it didn't really matter since we only used it to sleep. Just a suggestion since it sounds like you would rather do the expedition vs a drive by.

Elliot.org gives the executive contacts for Holland America, and your travel insurance companies. I would send an email to all of these contacts and also ask this advocacy organization for assistance since it seems that the travel insurance companies are not honoring the policies your grandfather purchased if he has repatriation coverage. The travel insurance companies should be assisting in making the arrangements. Also as others said contact the consulate as well - they don't pay for repatriation but assist in these matters.

This was me in Feb - I had to cancel one week before our cruise for a severe back issue. If you booked with a TA notify them ASAP; if with HAL notify them. I would do it by phone and email. You can ask for a FCC but it is not set forth as an option in the terms of the insurance you purchased so not sure if they will grant this to you. Because your insurance is cancel for any reason I don't think you will need a doctor's note. I had private insurance so I did. You get the port fees and any excursions you paid for and extras - like internet, dining reservations, crew appreciation etc. back from HAL right away since you are canceling prior to the start of the cruise. The remainder is the cruise fare and any flights you booked with HAL. On the HAL website it tells you how to file a claim. Sorry to hear this - it is quite a bummer but having been there, there was no way I could have gone on our cruise. BTW the epidural worked wonders for me allowing me to function until my surgery.

If the travel insurance is private insurance not HAL's it is doubtful they will have to use it. If they don't use it, they can call the company and ask for a refund of the premium price or if that won't work have the policy transferred to a new trip.

Yes I had to do this for my cruise I had booked for this July. I got all my money back but I had a refundable deposit. I know others who didn't have a refundable. deposit but asked to transfer it to another cruise and it was allowed but I am not sure if HAL would do that now. I hope everyone is doing better today with their surgeries. I am sorry to hear that so many are having medical issues. Thank you all for keeping up this daily. Though I don't post much it is a pleasure to read.