hallpau

It so much fun to watch the crew enjoy the snow.....so many of them haven't ever seen snow.  Thanks for sharing and enjoying your blog.

Safe travels home and looking forward to seeing you in January.

48 minutes ago, rljan said:

We have an annual policy from Travel Insured International.  It’s worth checking out.

Good luck is you file a claim with them.  I had used them for several year and my first claim with them was denied when our 2020 World cruise was terminated due to the pandemic.  We were doing an independent safari with several of our friends and all of their travel insurance policies reimbursed them but Travel Insured told me that we could have taken the safari if we had shown up and therefore denied it???  After giving them over $25K in premiums over the years....they will not get another dime from me.

If you’re looking for a tour operator for Tolanaro (Fort Dauphin), Madagascar,  I just booked a tour with DODI’S LEMUR TOURS.   This tour operator has very good reviews on Trip Advisor but I've never used them before, so I can't give a personal recommendation.  He has been super-fast to respond to my emails and provided me with a nice description of the tour and pictures of the vehicle.  There is no deposit required (pay in cash on day of tour).   His website and email are:  http://www.dodislemurtours.com  and  dodiasjustin@yahoo.fr

20 hours ago, sandiego1 said:

The 2023 WC is headed to Europe towards the end of the cruise . The entire trip isn’t south of the equator.

You are correct....but I thought this discussion was about the Asian ports so I failed to include the entire World Cruise which does cross the equator as we go up the west side of Africa (which is no where near Asia).

4 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

How will this impact the 2023 World Cruise?  

The 2023 World is staying south of the equator this year.

Just now, RuthC said:

Yes, since in this example you are not starting in the US.
The PVSA only applies to passengers going from one US city to a foreign country and back to a US city. In this instance the passenger is starting in Canada and ending in the US, so the PVSA isn't a concern. 

If the passenger returns to the US city where they started, a near foreign port is all that's required. 
If the passenger returns to a different US city from the US city in which they started, a distant foreign port is required. 

I totally agree with you based on everything I've found online about PVSA but the first HAL rep said not legal, so I asked them to recheck their information and now I've been waiting for almost a week with no reply.  

Question for chengkp75:  Would you be allowed to do a b2b2b by starting your cruise in Quebec City - Boston - Quebec City - Ft. Lauderdale?  I've been waiting on an answer from Seattle for close to a week.

Thank you.....

6 hours ago, klfrodo said:

Just throwing this out there.

 

Every policy sold in the US MUST be approved by the State Insurance Commissioner in the state that you reside.

Therefore, one of your options is to reach out for help from your State Insurance Commission or whatever that official department in your state is.

Thank you klfrodo for the tip.

Thank you Steve...I just sent you an email with the documentation you asked for.

My travel agency has already reached out to their sales rep but they got the same response Travel Insured gave me.  Travel Insured is not one of their preferred providers but I've insured with them for the last 5 years due to best rate and their affiliation with USAA.  In fact, I think I'm the only client that insures with Travel Insured through my travel agency.

The commission my travel agency received is nothing compared to the $26,406.28 in premiums I have paid to Travel Insured over the last 5 years.

I've exhausted all my avenues to get this claim approved (claim appeal, travel agency, USAA), I reaching out to you for direction to other avenues I may have.

Thank you

Hi Steve,

I purchased the insurance through my travel agency that I book my cruises with.  The insurance is with Travel Insured International and the plan is their Worldwide Trip Protector - FL.

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

We were on the Holland America 2020 World cruise that was terminated half way through the cruise in Perth, Australia in March.  I filed our original claim early for all our losses but was able to negotiate refunds from most of our travel suppliers and reduced our claim considerably.  A group of us had booked an independent safari with a tour operator in Africa that we had to cancel since we didn't make it to Africa and we were within the 100% cancellation penalty with the tour operator (although they did go the "extra mile" and was able to refund about 25% of our money).  The other people in our group received payment from their travel insurance providers but our travel insurance provider denied our claim for the remaining 75% we had paid for our safari package.  I put numerous hours into uploading documentation, resubmitting a revised claim (per request from the claims analyst) and finally had to prepare an appeal letter.  But all of these was to no avail and my claim was denied except for a small amount the appeal manager approved under "itinerary change."  

I purchased this coverage in June 2018 for our 2020 World cruise and have read and reread the Plan Document and Confirmation of Benefits that was sent to me and I can't find anything that would justify them denying my claim.  Our travel agency that we bought our policy through has reached out to the sales rep and his reply was: they can’t pay due to boarder (their spelling but I think they mean border??) closures, it’s not in their filing" whatever that really means?

Do you have any recommendations as to what my next steps could be or do I need to take my loss and learn an expensive lesson?

1 hour ago, Himself said:

I agree

Your response surprises me....we're perfectly fine with an inside cabin.  I've loved the occasional time that we've had a verandah stateroom but not enough to reduce the number of cruises we can take.

There were also some casino employees from South Africa.

I've been on the Zuiderdam since 30 July and was told they did away with the $10 free play for 1000 points in early July.  I asked if anything was being put in it's place and the casino manager said there would casino credits for bookings based on your time/money spent in the casino (no facts...just a statement).

They came on board the Zuiderdam in Reykjavik (Voyage of the Vikings cruise).  They have already done one show and another is booked before we get to Boston.

I prepaid for my internet plan on the Amsterdam for the World Cruise. It was an option in my account online where you can also pre-purchase dining, wine packages and spa item.

I've been checking on the internet packages for the 2019 World and there still isn't an option showing on the HAL website under my booking number. Do you mind sharing how much you had to pay for the internet package you purchased and how many minutes (or if it was unlimited)?

4 and 5 star Mariners didn't even get priority tendering on the 2018 World cruise and a friend of mine was on the 2017 Voyage of the Vikings and had the same thing happen. Many of the longer cruises have a lot of 4 & 5 star Mariners sailing so the ship is making everyone (except President Club guest) stand in line for tender tickets.

There were a lot of upset guest on the 2018 World...I think there would be a way to at least give some consideration to their 4 & 5 star Mariner guests. HAL promotes one of the 4/5 star Mariner benefits as priority tendering....but I guess it's at their discretion if they honor this benefit or not :confused:.

I've chartered Reef Daytripper several times over the years and always enjoyed our snorkeling experience with them. Unfortunately, they have changed owners and hence changed policy requiring 20% deposit (understandable) and 100% payment about 2 months before the sailing date with a 14-day cancellation notice required for a full refund.

I've always chartered the entire boat whenever we've been on a cruise that docks in Cairns, but since we're at the mercy of the ship docking....I'm not willing to lose my entire payment, nor are my cruise friends willing to pay in advance with the money being non-refundable if the ship doesn't dock.

After much correspondence with the booking agent about their new payment policy, I cancelled my next 2 booking with Reef Daytripper and I can no longer recommend them to anyone arriving in Cairns on a cruise ship.

The booking agent said the boat owner feels he shouldn't be responsible if the ship doesn't dock...but he has a 20% deposit and won't have fuel, staffing and food costs but wants the patrons to be responsible for the entire amount....just doesn't sound fair to me.

We will be sailing on the Carnival Paradise in May 2016 out of Tampa, FL. Does the ship stay on Tampa, FL time or does is change to local time when in a port?

Thank you....

I will plan on having our group meet in the Ocean Bar.

Thanks to each of you for helping me out on this.

Pauline

Would someone that's familiar with the Prinsendam please let me know a good meeting spot that a small group can meet prior to disembarking for an independent shore excursion.

I cruise primarily on the Amsterdam and we always meet in the atrium on deck 3 (a couple floor above the area we usually disembark from). Does the atrium on Deck 5 (Dolphin) of the Prinsendam provide a small seating area and close to where we will disembark most of the time?

Thank you for any advice you can give me.

I spent a lot of time researching a tour operator for our overnight cruise stop in Rotterdam but had no lot in my research. Fortunately we lucked onto an amazing taxi driver that negotiated a flat rate for taking us to the Hague and Delft on our first day and then picked us up again the next morning to go to Kinderdijk and the Fish Market and cube houses in Rotterdam.

Noa has lived in Rotterdam all his life and speaks perfect English (along with several other languages) and is a very nice, pleasant young man. His taxi is a very comfortable "mini bus" and is equipped with WIFI. His email is rodamtaxi@gmail.com and his phone number is 0031631365532.

I would highly recommend Noa for your transportation needs while visiting Rotterdam and feel very fortunate that we found him on our arrival in Rotterdam.

If you're okay with driving.....rent a car in every port and you can see what you want.