sanger727

Why would you buy this through the ship? You can purchase this easily directly.

Maybe they trusted the medics in your area more than we trust ours? Or just times changing with so many overdose deaths and/or lawsuits? The medics here aren't even allowed to declare someone dead. If someone is dead the police are called. All of their medications are collected as well as any information on doctors. The coroner's office is called and they attempt to make contact with the doctor to get a medical history. Only after everything checks out, you can use the on call doctor with the coroner's office to declare the death and call the funeral home. Otherwise it goes to the coroner and they declare the death and do an autopsy.

OK, then the EMS must fulfill the job of the police in Ohio. Someone has to review the person's medical history and determine if they have a health condition that can explain the death. Also to review the scene for drug paraphernalia or anything else out of the norm. I assume the home health agency was invovled in hospice care, that's really the only time a death at home doesn't need some investigation.

Ok, now I'm just curious. In those situations and someone dies in their house, who did you call and what happened next? Someone has to make the decision on whether the coroner comes for the body or if it can be released to a funeral home.

Exactly, a layover of less than an hour on an international connection is a terrible idea. Who cares if the airlines offer it; if you were booking your own flights you would have the choice to not book it. On the same note, it's not a good idea to fly in the morning of a cruise. It sounds like both of these happened in the OPs situation. Had they scheduled a one or two day deviation in, there, they likely would have made their cruise. NCL has some blame, but so does the OP. This was risky from the outset.

Agreed. I've taken many trips and ended up flying on many airlines. The only time an airline cancelled a flight without any options except to reschedule the next day was American Airlines. And that was AFTER we spent about 4 hours waiting for our flight and the only issue was being short a plane.

Regardless of the airline and booking method - its never advisable to arrive the same day as the cruise. Especially not for long haul flights like Europe.

I don't know what happens in the world of maritime law and cruise ships. But in the real world on land - the coroner would be called for any death; and if it can't be explained by pre-existing medical history; they send an investigator to collect the body and examine the scene. Law enforcement investigators would only be called it if they found something that made them suspect this was a homicide or suicide. And since they are labeling it as a suspicious death, its a very good bet that it wasn't natural causes.

Since this is your first trip to Europe, it will be hard to go wrong. An important thing is to be aware of how far major cities are from the ports. For example, Rome is over an hour from the port so is difficult to see in a one day excursion. Your best bet if you want to come in early and leave late would be to do a cruise that starts and ends in different cities. Also, you may want to plan a few days on both sides of the trip for sightseeing. There is only so much you can see in a day.

I’ve never heard of a situation where travel Insurance covered someone who failed to know/apply for passports/visas ahead of time. Getting your passport stolen the day before you leave, maybe. But lining up your travel documentation is the traveler’s duty. If they have written info from the travel agent that a passport wasn’t needed, they may be able to pursue reimbursement through them.

We went to Thailand and Vietnam recently, and yes, tour companies asked for our passport info ahead of time. They said it was required for paperwork they had to do as a tour company there.

I’m not naive enough to think that the fact that NCL is charging more for DSC means that the crew makes more. just like i don’t believe the fact that NCLs drink package tips are higher means their bartenders make more.

I’ve never seen a nail salon that charges more for a manicure than a pedicure. If you are getting both for $90; $60 is the pedicure and $30 is the manicure

I agree that it doesn’t really matter. In the Caribbean we have never been close enough to islands while cruising to have a scenic side.

I’ve never been on an unsatisfactory cruise excursion, but we haven’t been on many. We have been on many private/independent tours and found them great. I feel like I vet the company thoroughly enough with tripadvisor and this forum that I’m comfortable. The main benefit to a cruise ship excursion is that if they don’t meet basic expectations, you have some recourse to request money back from the cruise line.

I don’t usually count my travel day home as a vacation day. Travel days tend to be hectic and stressful to begin with. We typically try to book late morning flights and do the self walk off. Have never had issues with that feeling rushed. We did the traditional disembarkation once and hated it. Had breakfast and then went to our designated waiting area. Everything got backed up and we ended up waiting there for over an hour.

The ship can and will leave you if needed; what if the people never came back? I've seen the ship wait before. I think that if you call and say you are running late and they have flexibility in the sail times to wait they may. Just the luck of the Captain's decision. If you get stuck in a country without your passport, you would just have to deal with immigration officials and deportation.

Yellow fever vaccine has been extremely difficult to get through the pandemic. I do not know if it is easier to get now. When we went to Peru in 2021 the only option was through a travel clinic and they wanted $400 for it so I didn't get one. Malaria prevention is easy to get and pretty readily available. I usually take it to be on the safe when it doubt. I'm type O blood and mosquitos flock to me wherever I go.

I've never seen a situation where a TA cost more than direct booking. Something seems odd here like they aren't using discounts you apply for or the same package. I would certainly not call them back if they can't be bothered to figure out what's wrong. My best cruise TA experiences have been what @cruisemom42 does. We use a online TA that sells only cruises and has agents available 24/7 so you can always talk to someone, even if its not your agent. I had a really bad experience recently booking with a specific agent who worked somewhat independently within their agency and won't be doing that again.

But in terms of controlled substances, it doesn't matter. Federal and State laws restrict possession of controlled substances. Carrying a controlled substance without proof of prescription on you is a really bad idea. You could get stopped by the police on the way to the airport, on the way to the cruise, or in customs. All of which have the authority to make an arrest.

In my job we also get a good number of homemade treats - cookies, brownies, cakes, etc. So, I've never taken an issue with that. And I don't think you are suggesting people bring those on board as tips, but like me, it doesn't sound like an outrageous gift. Our situation is quite a bit different than tipped crew. I'm in an occupation where it's not appropriate to give a cash tip and accepting "tips and gifts" is prohibited by policy. Frankly, food like homemade cookies or someone sending us pizza is about all we are allowed to accept.

Separate out prescriptions from controlled substances. Most prescriptions are not controlled substances. I don't care what the TSA's rules are; controlled substances are illegal to possess, and most certainly illegal to carry over state lines without a valid prescription. Those should always be in the original prescription container. Prescriptions are generally fine in a daily pill box container, but of course you should have access to copies of the prescriptions just in case.

Restaurants turn over tables multiple times a night. More solo eaters than normal one night makes a very small impact on their profit over the course of a week. Cruise lines are stuck with the same cruisers for a whole week. There's no hope of turning that cabin over the next day and getting a higher profit customer in. That being said, I do think this is bad business and bad policy. My husband and I sail as a double and have very little onboard spend. A solo with a drink package and purchases excursions easily exceed us in on board spend. I understand they are playing on averages.

This is for US residents who are citizens of countries that have no established visa-free regime with the EU. Not US citizens traveling in from a non-schengen country.

I’ve never heard of a situation where US citizens need visas to enter the Schengen area. What causes you to think you do? This website (no idea if it’s validity) indicates that the newest rules include an ETIAS authorization but that’s not until late this year. https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/us-citizens/