pris993

I used On point, but out in California, worked out very well. Glad you got the link.

Different strokes for different folks, never participate in most of what you describe. If I want to cruise on a Carnival ship, I will book it.

It does not include trying to make a cruise a game show!

I don't care, I don't cruise to participate in a game show. Princess needs to stick to the business of cruises!

60+ cruises in 9 different lines over the years, can't say I have had a terrible cruise. Some better than others, yes. None that I could say was worse than any other.

We keep the alcohol and switch all the soda for water.

After you board, simply call them on their cabin phone and say surprise!! That is what our grandson did, very simple.

Am sure you are right. So far we have never had to use. Figured if I did, I would buy another plan if I had other travel coming up.

Not surprised your doctor said so. I take some prescriptions that have been around forever too, they work. They are also the least expensive. At the same time folks are living longer because of advances in medicine and basic hygiene.

The reason we pay so much here the quality of care is far superior, facilities need to recover the cost of the technology and we are still providing care to some with no insurance. I worked for a private practice surgeon for 20 years. Saw many patients coming from out of the country for care here in USA. These were folks who had means and did not want to wait the time it would take to get care under socialized medicine in their countries. Recently my DH had an accident and was transported to a local hospital by ambulance, a 20 minute ride. The ambulance carrier sent a bill to our insurance for $12,000+. Because of a contract the insurance company paid $2500 of the bill. Our copay with insurance was $50. The high cost of the transport is about the Ambulance company trying to cover the cost of equipment and technology on board. We take for grant the quality of care available in USA. When medical records went electronic, I needed to scan medical records from patient charts going back 30 years. Reviewing medical records left me realizing the quality of care we have here is impressive.

I am speaking about Kaiser only. I have not reviewed Kaiser traveler info package recently. Did obtain a copy of their guidelines from the business office a few years ago. What I read is prior approval is necessary for treatment at a non-Kaiser facility. This makes sense to me because Kaiser is an HMO. HMO (Health Management Organization) health plans generally require prior approval or a referral. I have a Federal BCBS plan, it is a PPO type plan. This plan does provide coverage outside the country like yours. I have even had a payment for treatment for an ear infection while on a ship on a TA a few years back.

Obviously, my comment was unclear. The friend who had Kaiser had 3 kids, one of her kids hit a brother or sister. Parent had Kaiser, they were in Los Vegas, went to ER, Kaiser did not cover, she ended up with the $1800 bill, from a non Kaiser facility in Los Vegas. Family lived in California. From what I have read because my DH has Kaiser, when traveling if one seeks treatment at a non Kaiser facility they need to contact Kaiser for approval. Don't believe family did so, because they thought it was emergency.

Same thing happened to us, once when we book a suite under the pool deck mid ship, never again for us either. Whoever put a suite under the pool deck was crazy!! Same thing sounded like someone rolling a canon over the deck above at 4 am every morning.

Interesting, my DH has Kaiser Advantage coverage which includes his Medicare. Coverage is great at home but I would not count on it traveling outside the State of California. I have gotten a copy of Kaiser information package for travel, basically it requires prior approval before any treatment outside a Kaiser facility. Had a friend who had Kaiser, one of her kids hit another kid in the eye while family was in Las Vegas. She took child to ER just to be safe. She was surprised Kaiser would not cover the visit and she had to pay visit cost of $1800. One has to be careful with Kaiser. I have not looked at Kaiser guidance for travel for a number of years, but basically Kaiser is an HMO. HMO limit coverage outside network.

Cruise lines offer transfers. There is also a train that runs. When we have gone in and out of Civitavecchia, we have used a private car transfer Romecabs.com We took the train once while there on a day trip, easy to do without luggage. The train station is several blocks from the port and the port is large, even with a shuttle bus. We did a ship transfer once, while less expensive than private car transfer, we decided we preferred the private car transfer with luggage.

We have a Travel Guard Business Traveler annual policy. It covers accident and sickness medical $50,000, repatriation $50,000 pp. Annual policy is only $518 for 2. Good anywhere in the world. Good for travel 100 miles away from home. With Covid, I have added a premium coverage offered by the cruise ship in this case Princess which also has medical and covers trip cancellation. This is per trip. Through preplanning for final arrangements, we have purchased coverage for repatriation of remains from anywhere in the world for rest of our life for onetime fee of $500 pp. We have two types of medical coverage: one person has MedicareAdvantage, which is not good outside USA; the other has Medicare and a supplemental which does have cover outside USA. We are 90/75, in good health.

Could be. I have cruised on Cunard, both QV and QM2, did eat in the MDR on both, we have been cruising since l980s, did not see anything that unique on the menu. Guess I would need to in an up class stateroom and dining room.

I had another thought about changes in the dining on ships. Once I was on a Princess ship, on the first night on board, the MC at the evening entertainment was going over what passengers might expect in the way of entertainment over the cruise and emphasized, how passengers can plan their meals around entertainment because of all the flexible alternatives on board. I think the cruise lines have encouraged passengers to pick and choose what they wish to do as much as anyone. I know it was around this time we stopped going to the MDR at all. We always do Room Service for breakfast; some days we do the buffet for lunch/dinner; sometimes we do Room Service for lunch/dinner especially if we are on a TA cruise; if in a port of call we like, we may pick up carry out in port and bring back and enjoy a meal on our balcony. Since we don't go to the MDR at all, we are free to change what we do every day. We enjoy the specialty dining some nights when we want to do something special. We never missed the MDR because there are so many options.

Good for you. More power to you. I was drinking martinis at lunch and dinner, plus... so guess that explains the difference. It is all good. By the way, the martinis are not that strong, maybe I could drink a couple of more. We will see.

LOL, did you float off the boat? 15 per day is hard to achieve. I know we had 2 drinks at lunch, 2 at dinner, 2 wines, 2 special coffees, plus 1 water daily each. Maybe another cocktail between, still only 10 drinks. I would be hard pressed to reach 15.

Besides the actual cost of 3 drinks, coffees etc., there is an 18% service charge on each you don't pay, it is covered as well with the package. Worth it.

I would suggest you contact a UK consulate office, you may be able to do so online. While it may very well be true US citizens on a cruise do not need visa? I have been to Gilbrater many times by ship without a visa. Since your husband is not a US Citizen that would not apply to him. Best way to check it out is to contact UK consulate in USA. Tell the consulate your husband is a Columbian citizen. Google for an email address for UK consultate. Cruise lines say passengers are responsible for having all necessary documents to board. I hope this suggestion helps you. If you get a response from the UK consulate online, you can copy it and take with you to the port, if he does not need visa. Otherwise take action to get a visa. A travel agent may be able to help you on getting the visa.

I agree 100% from experience. By the way, I took the first cruise on the Grand in l998, could not afford a mini suite, so we were booked way above deck 9. My first reaction was I would not like the lack of privacy. I got over many years later when Grand was home ported in San Francisco and I booked at least 10+ cruises over the year on deck 9 in a mini, lol. LIke you I rarely saw many folks out on their balconies for long except maybe when coming and going from a port. I got over it easily. I am booked in a mini on deck 14 on the Royal this December under the bump, 14 days to Hawaii. Doubt I will see many folks peering down at me.

I would recommend checking out Celebrity cruises, see they have 4 day cruises out of Miami.

Agree, folks forget on the Grand class most balconies had no privacy and it was not big deal.