Roz

Holding my breath.....

The requirement to have a Covid test before flying back into the USA was one of the reasons I deferred a European river cruise I had booked for last December. I was going to need a test to get into the Netherlands, another to get on the ship, and a 3rd to fly back after the cruise, all with tight timeframes. Way too much, and who wants to spend their time in Amsterdam searching out testing sites and waiting in line for a test?

@Mary229, you have mail. 😁

@CurlerRob, the website link you provided is still showing I need to submit ArriveCAN info twice - once to fly in and once to board the ship. Will be monitoring closely.

I've done 3 European river cruises (2 on the Danube and 1 on the Rhine) and at most stops there are interesting places to visit within walking distance of the pier or just a short bus ride away.

With all due respect to our friends and neighbors to the North, after my upcoming cruise I'm avoiding travel to Canada unless all this nonsense stops. Travel is stressful enough with all the last minute things that need to be done without adding to the list. @oakridger, what a hassle! Where do you have to go for the test?

Oct. 2 on the Noordam still showing vaccination and negative test required.

I've heard of Riviera river cruises but don't know anything about them.

@cruisemom42, I would be happy to.

Stay away from Viking. Everyone acts like they're the only game in town but they're not solo friendly at all. I've done 3 European river cruises on Uniworld that either had no single supplement or a reduced single supplement. Every year they come out with Solo Savings. The list isn't available for 2023. It will come out sometime next year. You just have to watch their website. I'm booked on Tauck for a Christmas cruise, and generally their Category E (aquarium class) cabins have no single supplement. Tauck and Uniworld are more inclusive and are a better value than Viking IMO. Gate 1, a budget river cruise line, also gives solos a break on their fares.

@atexsix, they dragged us from one end of Canada Place to the other and didn't seem to know what to do with us. What? Passengers are staying onboard for the next cruise? What an oddity! Things were complicated by the fact that there were 2 large Australian tour groups embarking, and again, officials at Canada Place acted like they had never encountered an Aussie before.

This has been a very informative discussion. Thanks to all who participated.

So.....I checked my Medicare supplement and it says "Foreign Travel Emergency Emergency care beginning during first 60 days of trip outside USA (after $250 deductible, benefits limited to $50,000/lifetime)". Covered at 80%. I was very surprised at the $50,000 lifetime limit, but maybe that's standard. Glad I found this out now.

@GeezerCouple, Geo Blue is who refers to Medicare supplements as primary, not me. I think they want you to have other medical insurance, not just a travel policy. I can't imagine the retirement plan for TN state employees only has $50,000 lifetime benefits, so now I AM totally confused. Where would I find travel medical insurance that's primary for older people?

@Jersey42, I have no idea if TN's plan covers foreign travel. That's something I need to research. When you say "It is all more complicated than it should be" you're absolutely right. 😁

@odie1024, @GeezerCouple, and @Jersey42, thank you for your thoughtful and informative responses. After I posted, I did some research on Geo Blue on the Trip Insurance Store website. I see that having a Medicare Supplement or being in a Medicare Advantage Plan qualifies as primary insurance. I'm a state employee and will be purchasing a Medicare supplement for state retirees. I noticed that both the Geo Blue Trekker Essential and Trekker Choice only offer $100,000 of medical coverage for those 70-95 yrs. old. The Essential plan has $250,000 of coverage for emergency medical evacuation and the Choice plan offers $500,000 of coverage. Both plans are very reasonably priced. I agree with @Hlitner about medical and evacuation coverage being much more important than trip cancellation or interruption. I have 2 big cruises coming up over the next 6 months - a river in Europe in December and a 31-day South American cruise next March/April. I purchased individual (pricey) policies for those. Going forward I seen that having an individual annual medical policy is going to be more cost effective and give me the coverage I'm more interested in.

I was just thinking about annual medical insurance today because I submitted my application for Medicare Part B. This thread has been very informative. I turn 70 in a few months and will be retiring the day after. 😎 Medicare kicks in on Jan. 1, 2023. As those of you on Medicare know, it doesn't cover medical outside of the US and its territories. Medicare will be my primary, so what would be the value in a travel insurance co. coordinating benefits with my primary? Medicare isn't going to pay.

I did b2b cruises once and turnaround day was a disaster. It was in Vancouver, and the passengers staying on knew more about what to do than the ship's employees. Canada Place was in a state of chaos. It was not at all the smooth process described by so many here on CC.

Keeping fingers crossed with you, as we've stressed over this for the past month. 😣

The food in the MDR is good to very good, but I wouldn't call it fabulous.

@saz25, are you asking because you want to book your own shore excursions? As @Host Jazzbeau explained, they're included and built into the fare. If you read the tour descriptions they can sometimes give you an idea about how much time you'll be in a particular port. Booking or doing things on your own can be risky if the ship has to move.

I don't think most river cruise lines show port times. What lines are you looking at that show times? Time in port varies. Sometimes you'll spend most of the day in a port but the ship moves and you catch up with it later. I've found river cruises are more likely to have overnights in port, especially at the beginning and end. For instance, if you're doing Amsterdam to Budapest, you'll overnight in Amsterdam and Budapest. I hope this helps.

I would think it would be something the cruise director would bring to the attention of guests at his/her daily talk. Especially for repeat passengers who may not be aware of the change.

Interesting...none of this is explained on the Sky Train website. So I buy a card I'll never use again and load the fare? What does "tap out" mean? Sorry, we don't have subways or passenger trains in Nashville. Anyone know how to cancel a HAL transfer?

Thank you, @julia. I booked a guarantee and don't have my cabin assignment yet, so haven't printed out the boarding pass. I thought about using the Sky Train. I went on the website and it seems complicated. I couldn't figure out if there's a station near my hotel, and buying a ticket seems difficult. Seems like it's set up for daily commuters, not one time users. I've had bad luck with using public transit in other large cities. People weren't very patient with me as I tried to figure out how to use a new system. My biggest concern is traveling with a suitcase and if I would would be able to get it onto the train car and where to stow it once on the train. Thanks for everyone's information and advice.