CruiserN1

Yes. We bought the standard. It was around $225 for the upgrade to platinum to insure an additional $1000 of cruise cost. I'm willing to gamble on that. Husband's docs expect that he will be absolutely fine to travel in July, and final payment isn't until April, so it felt like an educated wager.

Good point. Also a port-heavy itinerary so we won't be on the ship much at peak daylight hours.

Very, very low likelihood that he would need a CG rescue.

Thanks, this was really helpful to read over. I ended up deciding to cancel our cruise with Oceania now (while my deposit was still refundable) and book a similar cruise on Princess. We bought the Princess Vacation Protection, which would provide a 75% future cruise credit if we need to cancel for any reason or a refund if my husband was too ill to travel and they decided his current condition wasn't a pre-existing condition (which it probably is, I'm not banking on that). The cost of the CFAR with Princess is worth it to protect the trip cost, especially since the mini-suite we booked on Princess was less expensive than our window cabin on Oceania even with the CFAR policy. And it's one less thing to worry about during an uncertain time in our lives.

I just booked an Alaskan cruise and decided to splurge on the Club Clas MS. It's mid-ship on the Dolphin deck. After booking I read something about these cabins having open (not covered) balconies. Can anyone tell me if this is correct and if the entire balcony is uncovered or just part of it? We'll be in Alaska so it's not like the sun will be too hot, but I'd rather not have to slather myself with sunscreen to sit on the balcony.

I actually just canceled an Oceania cruise in Alaska this summer and booked Princess instead specifically because of the Princess CFAR insurance (Oceania's policy does not include CFAR). My husband is in the middle of having some cardiac testing done that might lead to a minor surgery between now and when we cruise, so trip insurance (even with a pre-existing conditon waiver) would not cover him if we had to cancel due to something heart-related for him. Since we're going to Alaska, I'm not worried about the medical evacuation (US Coast Guard does it) or costs for a hospital in Alaska, which would be covered by our regular medical insurance.

Airfly (and others) makes a BT connector that plugs into a headphone jack and transmits the audio to BT headphones paired with it.

Thanks @klfrodo It sounds like we need to wait and see if he ends up needing surgery before buying trip insurance. We should have that answer before final payment.

Is Luggage Direct available for the Miami airport also?

Typically credit card travel insurance is more limited in coverage than what you can buy. I doubt it's the HAL plan with CFAR benefits. Given that they say they won't give you the details until you sign up for the card, I'd suspect it has more limited coverage.

The "why now" reason is that he is fit to travel right now. He might need surgery between now and final payment and right after surgery he wouldn't be fit to travel. I don't want to get stuck not being able to buy a policy with a waiver because he isn't fit to travel at the time we need to buy it. We expect him to be able to travel in July but you never know what might happen between April and July. We'd lose over $7K if we canceled after final payment. I'm not concerned about medical or evacuation, but I don't want to lose the $7K. We just lost $3500 on a vacation rental in Maui when we had to cancel because he was in the hospital. I thought we had coverage through our credit card but they're saying it was preexisting because he had a history of high blood pressure and abnormal heart rhythm.

I would guess so, but I'd rather bring my flavor of choice and not have to pay $2.50 for fizzy water (I don't do the bev package).

I think the OP was asking about accessing the headphone jack (if the TVs have one). If it's accessible, you can plug in a BT transmitter and use wireless BT headphones. They make transmitters you can use on airplanes that have a seatback video monitor. I use Airfly and it works well.

Great point. Definitely would be best to schedule for a sea day that isn't a Gala night.

I haven't tried it on a HAL ship, but the AirFly BT connector is pretty small. If the TV has a headphone jack I bet it would work.

We have an 11 night sailing, but just three sea days. We've booked dinner in Tamarind for night 7. I like the idea someone suggested about lunch at PG near the end of the cruise. We have a sea day on day 9, then Half Moon Cay, then disembarkation.

I'm wondering if canned seltzer water counts as water (not the alcohol kind, stuff like LaCroix). It comes in cans and it is water. It's my drink of choice and not available on the ship.

My husband was in the hospital for a heart issue recently and has a number of medical tests and possibly procedures coming up in the next few months. We have a cruise to Alasks planned for late July 2023 on Oceania. We haven't made final payment yet. It's due mid-April. His cardiologist thinks the Alaska cruise should not be a problem, but never know so we need trip insurance. He is considered healthy enough to travel right now, so I'm thinking I should get a plan with a pre-existing condition waiver now. Any advice on this? I am also wondering if we buy the plan now and cancel prior to final payment if we would get a refund on the insurance or not. I know he has to be well enough to travel when we buy the policy in order to qualify for the waiver, so I don't want to wait.

Do I just go to Pinnacle and ask for a lunch reservation right after boarding? We have two sea days immediately after departing.

Sailing on Rotterdam in March and wondering how I make a reservation for lunch at Pinnacle Grill on a sea day. I don't see an option for it in the Dining section of the pre-board options.

For our cruise coming up in March, the cost of the clamshell is $44.99. That price covers two loungers.

Thanks for your reporting on your Rotterdam cruise. We're sailing her in mid-March. I've read that in order to turn on the cabin lights, you need to insert your cruise card in a wall slot near the door. Does it have to be your actual cruise card or will any plastic card work? I'm concerned that I will leave the cabin without my cruise card if I have to stick it into the wall.

I had a similar thing happen on my last X cruise. Ultimately it was an error made by the corporate office at X in their agreement with my TA (which wasn't CNM) about $100 bonus OBC. Seems like corporate makes deals with TA who have a large volume of bookings to award extra OBC from corporate. It "fell off" my booking somehow. It took a bunch of emails, but TA sent me a check in the end. I wouldn't fault guest services on the ship because they are not able to fix it since it isn't showing on their end. If you enjoy HAL, you might re-think boycotting them over this incident.

Thanks for explaining, good to know!

Where did you see the text you are quoting? I've never heard of a "bonus Cruise Day credit."