the penguins Posted July 11 #76 Share Posted July 11 5 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said: Oh jeez. That’s definitely worth the insurance. The other challenge in the US is that it’s not always easy to collect the $ from a claim. our insurance settled the hospital bill and the airline costs direct. The only items we had to pay and then claim back were the meds prescribed on discharge and the one night hotel. All our other medical claims have been settled direct. Our one claim for cancellation (I was hospitalised on the morning we were due to sail) had to wait until the cruise ended for Royal to issue the cancellation invoice (Royal said it couldn't do it before in case we joined the cruise enroute - a bit difficult as it was a Transatlantic). Once the Invoice was raised the claim was settled in full in under a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandryl Posted July 11 #77 Share Posted July 11 On 7/9/2024 at 11:44 AM, zitsky said: Do you always take “no” for an answer? Did you ever get a C grade in school and ask your teacher what you could do to turn it into a B? After all, you’re not entitled to a better grade. Parents do that today! Kid get a C parents make sure it a B. The teacher/school are never right & every kid get a trophy or medal! YAY! 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted July 11 #78 Share Posted July 11 1 minute ago, shandryl said: Parents do that today! Kid get a C parents make sure it a B. The teacher/school are never right & every kid get a trophy or medal! YAY! 😂 How do you think I get into the Retreat when I pay for an inside cabin? I ask my mom to call the President of Celebrity. I’m special. But I’m saying if you have a C+ 79/100 why can’t you ask for a B- 80/100? At least ask for some extra credit work. Not just have it given to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shandryl Posted July 12 #79 Share Posted July 12 6 minutes ago, zitsky said: How do you think I get into the Retreat when I pay for an inside cabin? I ask my mom to call the President of Celebrity. I’m special. good one! 😄 8 minutes ago, zitsky said: But I’m saying if you have a C+ 79/100 why can’t you ask for a B- 80/100? At least ask for some extra credit work. Not just have it given to you True Story. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemonlee Posted July 12 #80 Share Posted July 12 Just weighing in on the travel insurance or no travel insurance question. Traveling overseas to take a European cruise. absolutely get travel insurance as there are so many variables of things that could go wrong: flight cancellations and delays, what if your cruise get cancelled and you have non-refundable airfares, or land portion of your trip, and most importantly, medical coverage in a foreign country or evacuation home if needed. But say you have a US cruise (and you are a US citizen) that doesn't require airfare, just a drive to the port. If anything medical happens, you have your regular medical insurance. And losing the cost of the trip isn't castastrophic. I can see making the decision not to get insurance in the second scenario. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguins Posted July 12 #81 Share Posted July 12 3 hours ago, Lemonlee said: Just weighing in on the travel insurance or no travel insurance question. Traveling overseas to take a European cruise. absolutely get travel insurance as there are so many variables of things that could go wrong: flight cancellations and delays, what if your cruise get cancelled and you have non-refundable airfares, or land portion of your trip, and most importantly, medical coverage in a foreign country or evacuation home if needed. But say you have a US cruise (and you are a US citizen) that doesn't require airfare, just a drive to the port. If anything medical happens, you have your regular medical insurance. And losing the cost of the trip isn't castastrophic. I can see making the decision not to get insurance in the second scenario. Does your " regular medical insurance" cover you outside of the US for example in the Caribbean? Or on the ship? What if you needed a medical flight back from the Caribbean to the US? Cancellation after final payment would be high. Insurance would probably be very cheap for the type of cruise you suggest - less than a $100 for 2 depending on your age? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare chemmo Posted July 12 #82 Share Posted July 12 5 hours ago, Lemonlee said: Just weighing in on the travel insurance or no travel insurance question. Traveling overseas to take a European cruise. absolutely get travel insurance as there are so many variables of things that could go wrong: flight cancellations and delays, what if your cruise get cancelled and you have non-refundable airfares, or land portion of your trip, and most importantly, medical coverage in a foreign country or evacuation home if needed. But say you have a US cruise (and you are a US citizen) that doesn't require airfare, just a drive to the port. If anything medical happens, you have your regular medical insurance. And losing the cost of the trip isn't castastrophic. I can see making the decision not to get insurance in the second scenario. I think you are right, cover for travel and cruise is probably less vital if you are cruising ‘locally’ but there are so many posts on CC where sadly many people do need to cancel last minute and then are frantically asking for advice on how to try to recuperate some of their hard earned money back! Responses invariably range from sympathetic to helpful to none sympathetic condemnation for not having purchased insurance! I guess if you have booked a cheap get away I can see the logic in not wanting to book trip cover… The medical aspect of insurance cover, however, is a different matter. Much as the majority of accidents happen in your own home I think holiday wise they often occur in your holiday back yard…All you need is one slip, one fall and repatriation from Alaska or a Caribbean Island with a complex limb injury can be eye watering without even thinking about emergency X-rays, scans, surgery… At the end of the day you book a holiday to relax and unwind. Hard to do that if you know in the back of your mind you aren’t protected for all the ‘what if’ scenarios life can throw at you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oceangoer2 Posted July 12 #83 Share Posted July 12 (edited) 11 hours ago, shandryl said: Parents do that today! Kid get a C parents make sure it a B. The teacher/school are never right & every kid get a trophy or medal! YAY! 😂 You're so right.....BTW....I LOVE YOUR SIGN-OFF QUOTE! "Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference." Edited July 12 by Oceangoer2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zitsky Posted July 12 #84 Share Posted July 12 2 hours ago, chemmo said: I think you are right, cover for travel and cruise is probably less vital if you are cruising ‘locally’ but there are so many posts on CC where sadly many people do need to cancel last minute and then are frantically asking for advice on how to try to recuperate some of their hard earned money back! Responses invariably range from sympathetic to helpful to none sympathetic condemnation for not having purchased insurance! I guess if you have booked a cheap get away I can see the logic in not wanting to book trip cover… The medical aspect of insurance cover, however, is a different matter. Much as the majority of accidents happen in your own home I think holiday wise they often occur in your holiday back yard…All you need is one slip, one fall and repatriation from Alaska or a Caribbean Island with a complex limb injury can be eye watering without even thinking about emergency X-rays, scans, surgery… At the end of the day you book a holiday to relax and unwind. Hard to do that if you know in the back of your mind you aren’t protected for all the ‘what if’ scenarios life can throw at you. I have never seen someone berate someone for making a mistake. I HAVE seen members saying “Here’s how insurance could have helped you when…” The OP specifically said “don’t tell me I should have bought insurance”. Well these threads are not just to help the original poster but also to provide advice for folks who come later. So it’s appropriate to discuss how it could be helpful to others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom and Ingrid Posted July 12 #85 Share Posted July 12 3 hours ago, chemmo said: I think you are right, cover for travel and cruise is probably less vital if you are cruising ‘locally’ but there are so many posts on CC where sadly many people do need to cancel last minute and then are frantically asking for advice on how to try to recuperate some of their hard earned money back! Responses invariably range from sympathetic to helpful to none sympathetic condemnation for not having purchased insurance! I guess if you have booked a cheap get away I can see the logic in not wanting to book trip cover… The medical aspect of insurance cover, however, is a different matter. Much as the majority of accidents happen in your own home I think holiday wise they often occur in your holiday back yard…All you need is one slip, one fall and repatriation from Alaska or a Caribbean Island with a complex limb injury can be eye watering without even thinking about emergency X-rays, scans, surgery… At the end of the day you book a holiday to relax and unwind. Hard to do that if you know in the back of your mind you aren’t protected for all the ‘what if’ scenarios life can throw at you. What's interesting is the likely diversity of insurance that folks here might have already, and then also, the TYPE of insurance folks might have. For instance, the whole host of LOGISTICAL issues might be completely covered by the way someone booked travel making separate travel insurance to cover that stuff redundant and/or wasteful. The HEALTH bits are also very specific to folks individual existing coverage, and US vs UK vs CA vs XYZ, (& within the US), Medicare vs private vs company provided vs XYZ, make it even more individual and specific. At the end of the day, just like Las Vegas was built on gambling in favor of the house, insurance is built on gambling in favor of the house. If, on one's first vacation out of the US they had set aside $100 for "insurance" in a side savings account, and added, at every vacation since then another $100, can you imagine the size of that account now? Folks can be their own "insurer", and especially where it's a situation of existing coverage, but they still face a process to get out-of-network claims reimbursed and/or deductibles met. But it, as always, comes down to one's personal "peace of mind" where the fear of loss is great enough that someone will choose to pay to lower that fear to a level where they are comfortable. People do that in all areas of life, and people have a near infinite range of comfort zones. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChutChut Posted July 12 #86 Share Posted July 12 On 7/8/2024 at 8:32 AM, ncgolferette said: You may be able to get some reimbursement from the credit card company you used to pay for the cruise. Won't happen if there's no basis for the refund. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom and Ingrid Posted July 12 #87 Share Posted July 12 18 minutes ago, ChutChut said: Won't happen if there's no basis for the refund. The OP (dependent on the CC they used) seems to have a basis ("my dad just recently got injured"). Using as an example a Chase CC - "accidental bodily injury that prevents travel" is right at the top of this list. Eligible trip cancellation or interruption events You'll only be eligible for reimbursement if certain events cause the cancellation or interruption of your travel arrangements. For example, Chase may provide trip cancellation and interruption coverage for the following circumstances: You or your traveling companion experience accidental bodily injury, death or sickness that prevents travel An immediate family member of you or your traveling companion dies or experiences accidental bodily injury or sickness that is life-threatening, requires hospitalization or requires care by you or your traveling companion Severe weather that would prevent a reasonable and prudent person from beginning or continuing on a trip (the weather must meet specific requirements regarding timing, location and effect on your trip) Named storm warning Change in military orders for you or your spouse A call to jury duty or a court subpoena that you can't postpone or waive Your or your traveling companion's permanent residence is uninhabitable, burglarized or damaged by fire or flood Your or your traveling companion's lodging at your destination becomes uninhabitable Your or your traveling companion's host at your trip's destination dies or is hospitalized A physician or a competent governmental authority having jurisdiction requires you or your traveling companion to quarantine due to health reasons You or your traveling companion miss at least 20% of your trip or the departure of a prepaid cruise or tour due to an organized strike affecting public transportation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguins Posted July 12 #88 Share Posted July 12 43 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said: What's interesting is the likely diversity of insurance that folks here might have already, and then also, the TYPE of insurance folks might have. For instance, the whole host of LOGISTICAL issues might be completely covered by the way someone booked travel making separate travel insurance to cover that stuff redundant and/or wasteful. The HEALTH bits are also very specific to folks individual existing coverage, and US vs UK vs CA vs XYZ, (& within the US), Medicare vs private vs company provided vs XYZ, make it even more individual and specific. At the end of the day, just like Las Vegas was built on gambling in favor of the house, insurance is built on gambling in favor of the house. If, on one's first vacation out of the US they had set aside $100 for "insurance" in a side savings account, and added, at every vacation since then another $100, can you imagine the size of that account now? Folks can be their own "insurer", and especially where it's a situation of existing coverage, but they still face a process to get out-of-network claims reimbursed and/or deductibles met. But it, as always, comes down to one's personal "peace of mind" where the fear of loss is great enough that someone will choose to pay to lower that fear to a level where they are comfortable. People do that in all areas of life, and people have a near infinite range of comfort zones. ok lets try it; $100 x 2 trips per year = $200 10 years = $2000 20 years = $4000 even if you did 4 trips a year after 20 years your pot would still be only $8000. My one claim which was for a fairly minor medical problem (food poisoning) was $20,000. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom and Ingrid Posted July 12 #89 Share Posted July 12 34 minutes ago, the penguins said: ok lets try it; $100 x 2 trips per year = $200 10 years = $2000 20 years = $4000 even if you did 4 trips a year after 20 years your pot would still be only $8000. My one claim which was for a fairly minor medical problem (food poisoning) was $20,000. So, your primary healthcare insurance company didn't accept/cover any out-of-network costs? My guess is paying for extra travel insurance, you just streamlined the process and got full reimbursement (no deductible to satisfy). Again, that "works" but does have a price. And is a price that is use or lose, unlike you existing health insurance which you have for using anytime all year around. UK rules obviously are different than the US (which is a mess of inconsistency). Peace of mind. I get it. Folks can and should buy it when they want it. And in the UK, I think you may NEED to buy supplemental coverage if on a normal UK insurance policy (or have NO coverage)??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chamima Posted July 12 #90 Share Posted July 12 On 7/9/2024 at 11:01 PM, mkkao924 said: OK, I am back. First of all, thank you all for contributing to the discussion. I sure appreciate all your comments. Here is what I got: I talked to my TA, and he was able to help me to swap my name with my dad's name. Original reservation: Room 1: My dad / my mom Room 2: Me / Wife / kid #1 / kid #2 Updated reservation: Room 1: Me / my mom Room 2: My dad / Wife / kid #1 / kid #2 HOWEVER, there was a gotcha. During the process, I don't know what happened, ALL 7 excursions / amenities booked were cancelled. I just spent over an hour on the phone with Celebrity customer service to get those all booked back. Most of the items were booked during Black Friday sale so he needed to do price adjustment on all of them. Eventually I was able to add everything back, luckily they are still available. My shareholder credit was also gone as part of the process, which I will need to submit again and see how it goes. All in all, this is what I asked for (did not ask for refund), and this is what I got. Again, really appreciate everyone's help. And now, should your Dad, in the end even at the last minute , feel up to taking part in just the cruise portion of your trip, he can! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mkkao924 Posted July 12 Author #91 Share Posted July 12 3 minutes ago, chamima said: And now, should your Dad, in the end even at the last minute , feel up to taking part in just the cruise portion of your trip, he can! Thank you! That's what I am praying for. Now if he decides to go, I need to figure out if I can rent a wheelchair on the cruise last minute just in case. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canderson Posted July 12 #92 Share Posted July 12 6 minutes ago, mkkao924 said: Thank you! That's what I am praying for. Now if he decides to go, I need to figure out if I can rent a wheelchair on the cruise last minute just in case. There are companies that deal in exactly this service for cruise ships, but the easiest way to deal with this depends upon where the cruise starts/ends and where you are. You can always rent at home, wrap and ship as luggage. There is never a baggage charge for this. Use airport service for wheelchair at each end until you hit baggage claim again. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oceangoer2 Posted July 12 #93 Share Posted July 12 39 minutes ago, canderson said: There are companies that deal in exactly this service for cruise ships, but the easiest way to deal with this depends upon where the cruise starts/ends and where you are. You can always rent at home, wrap and ship as luggage. There is never a baggage charge for this. Use airport service for wheelchair at each end until you hit baggage claim again. Would never have thought of renting/wrapping/shipping as luggage. They unload it on the carousel as normal luggage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguins Posted July 12 #94 Share Posted July 12 51 minutes ago, Tom and Ingrid said: So, your primary healthcare insurance company didn't accept/cover any out-of-network costs? My guess is paying for extra travel insurance, you just streamlined the process and got full reimbursement (no deductible to satisfy). Again, that "works" but does have a price. And is a price that is use or lose, unlike you existing health insurance which you have for using anytime all year around. UK rules obviously are different than the US (which is a mess of inconsistency). Peace of mind. I get it. Folks can and should buy it when they want it. And in the UK, I think you may NEED to buy supplemental coverage if on a normal UK insurance policy (or have NO coverage)??? No such thing as "primary healthcare insurance" nor " a normal UK insurance policy" here. Our NHS çovers us at home "free" I,e. Paid in our taxes. No UK private health care insurance covers emergency treatment in the UK. We can get emergency care in some countries based on reciprocal agreements but only in public hospitals and never including repatriation by air ambulances. Provided the insurance company has offices in the US then US hospitals will bill them direct. Otherwise we would have to prove we had the funds to pay and to settle the bill before we were discharged. In the case of our stay at the Marina Del Rae Hospital we: 1) arrived in 2 separate ambulances. 2) my wife had to wait out in the street on a stretcher/gurney while I was pushed in to an area with a phone where I was allowed 1 free phone call to check if my insurance company had an office in the US. 3) Only when we had we confirmation were we both allowed in. If only one of you was ill it is hard to understate the stress your partner would be under when trying to deal with this type of situation knowing that you didn't have insurance. It would be even harder in a country where English was not the first language. We were trying to cope with; 1) both of us being sick at the same time. 2) a 7 hour time difference between us and the UK and 5 hours between us and New Zealand for changing our flights. As an aside it is compulsory to have insurance when booking a cruise in the UK. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the penguins Posted July 12 #95 Share Posted July 12 48 minutes ago, canderson said: There are companies that deal in exactly this service for cruise ships, but the easiest way to deal with this depends upon where the cruise starts/ends and where you are. You can always rent at home, wrap and ship as luggage. There is never a baggage charge for this. Use airport service for wheelchair at each end until you hit baggage claim again. Great until it goes missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles4515 Posted July 12 #96 Share Posted July 12 On 7/9/2024 at 4:31 PM, Tom and Ingrid said: IOW - if there is a 1 in 100 chance you're not gonna get to take a cruise dues to a claimable reason, that's good to know. If there is a 1 in 10 chance, then that's REALLY good to know. If it's 1 in 1,000 or 1 in 10,000? Well, darn, that's a good reason to be like the OP and just figure out a way to make it work. What if you need medical evacuation. That could be quite expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canderson Posted July 12 #97 Share Posted July 12 16 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said: Would never have thought of renting/wrapping/shipping as luggage. They unload it on the carousel as normal luggage? Due to shape/size, more often gets left in the 'special' luggage area near the carousels - depends upon how you package it and how they handle awkward items at a particular airport, but it gets checked in with regular luggage at the departure side. I 'tarped and taped' the one we had to send to Lisbon for last year's TA (wife blew up a knee two weeks before the trip!) and tossed in a roll of tape to do the same on the return journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canderson Posted July 12 #98 Share Posted July 12 12 minutes ago, the penguins said: Great until it goes missing. Along with the rest of your luggage. Have a nice trip. For you, we'll recommend getting around the hard way from the time you hit the curb at the destination airport until you reach the ship (one or more days of transport, hotels, etc.), and then rent one that will be waiting for you aboard ship. We found that approach was going to be far too difficult - the transitions pre-cruise would have been unmanageable. But just for you: https://www.specialneedsatsea.com/about-us/cruise-lines/ https://scootaround.com/en/cruise-rental-equipment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oceangoer2 Posted July 12 #99 Share Posted July 12 35 minutes ago, canderson said: Along with the rest of your luggage. Have a nice trip. For you, we'll recommend getting around the hard way from the time you hit the curb at the destination airport until you reach the ship (one or more days of transport, hotels, etc.), and then rent one that will be waiting for you aboard ship. We found that approach was going to be far too difficult - the transitions pre-cruise would have been unmanageable. But just for you: https://www.specialneedsatsea.com/about-us/cruise-lines/ https://scootaround.com/en/cruise-rental-equipment Thx...I do have that link and considering rental but as you say its the time from home to ship where some assist is required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CGinMTL Posted July 12 #100 Share Posted July 12 In over 30 cruises, would never dream of leaving the country without health care coverage However, we " self insure" the cost of the cruise. My credit card does cover some travel expenses. Always sail inside cabin, so if I lose that, I will be sad, but risk I can live with. To each there own. And yes, I would not whine 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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