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GeezerCouple

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  1. And yes... Travel insurance involves SO many different types of policies, and so many different types and situations of the travelers, that there is no way all of the relevant information for *everyone* looking can be included. If someone wants to browse early on to get a sense of the general types of travel insurance, that's fine obviously. But I'd strongly discourage selecting a policy from just reading the online summaries. (And NOT only on this website: for ANY online travel insurance setting/website. The interactive Q&A, which can go both directins, can be invaluable help.) GC
  2. Yes, the names/terminology can start sounding very similar and get very confusing. I just wanted to make sure you were likely to find what would be useful. And yes, Steve is terrific, a real gem. He's helped us *so* much, from when we were total travel insurance newbies to now. (Alas, we learned more than we would have liked to know, due to our several claims, especially the bigger claims. But he was always available to help, before or after the policy purchase!) And since the travel insurance policies cost the same to the traveler, regardless of whether one gets it directly from the insurer or via a broker (who gets a commission from the insurer, not the traveler), I don't see much point in *not* using the services of a good broker. And that's especially IF one ends up with a major claim, which can't be known in advance. We ALWAYS recommend CALLING and speaking with them. There is so much customizing possible, that they will often ask you questions in addition to answering your own questions. That's a big part of their value, especially early on. (Now? We ususally say something like, "We'll take the regular!" 😀 Or ask if there's anything new we should know about, or tell them anything unusual about "this" trip.) GC
  3. We had that same concern about a child in a cabin with a balcony door. We were traveling with children with one toddler, a very active toddler who loved to climb. Balcony? OMG! Mom & Dad might not have been worried, but I would have been sick with worry (my specialty, alas!), and that would have spoiled the trip. We got them an OV cabin, with what was like a jumbo porthole (rectangular, not a tiny round PH). Turned out the toddler staked out the nice wide "windowsill" and spent much of his non-sleep cabin time perched there. 🙂 DH and I had a large suite, and we gave them a key to our suite so they could come and go as they pleased, so their small cabin was really just for sleep and naps anyway. For an older child and a balcony door for one of two interior connecting cabins, can't the door be fully locked by staff, so not even the adults could open it? If so, then I'd guess no worries about an older child trying to take a quick look on the balcony in the "children's cabin". GC
  4. Depending upon when you prefer to dine, be it date/day of week/time, if it turns out you can't get anything that works, then take the "next best" time on the same evening. It's very likely that it's going to be a lot easier for them to juggle reservation times a bit on the same evening, than to try to add a reservation to a different "full" evening. Then stop by the reservation desk as early as possible on your cruise, of the actual restaurant (not at a busy time!) and explain, and ask if they could move you closer to preferred time, etc. GC
  5. This reporting was pre-Covid, which could be either better now... or worse... However, on another online Forum, there was considerable discussion/complaint about this precise issue: If *anything* went wrong, it seemed that everything went wrong. No backups, etc. Just system disruption. IIRC, they didn't tend to have multiple flights between A and B, so trying to get on "the next flight" could take some time, and also depend upon whether there were even any seats available on subsequent flights, whenever they were. GC
  6. Why don't you ask in the Travel Insurance section of CC: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/499-cruisetravel-insurance/ And you may get some information from browsing through some posts there. There are limitations on the annual plans that wouldn't work for us, sometimes not even for a single trip. Also, keep in mind that IF one uses up the total, or comes close to it, when another trip is still to come, it may be too late to start a separate new policy for that next trip, at least one with all the features you might have wanted. GC
  7. Could you tell us exactly which policy from which insurer you are referring to, and perhaps the exact sentence (or better yet, paragraph). This may not even apply to your situation. In some cases, and this does not apply to everyone, IF one wants to waive the exclusion of pre-existing conditions [and keep in mind that the travel insurance definition of "pre-existing condition" is almost definitely VERY different from what we tend to think of in that category!], then for most (but not all) policies with this, one MUST begin the insurance coverage within 10-20 days (state specific). So... if one doesn't want to pay for a huge trip cost that won't be paid for months or even years, then just choose the minimum amount... which is that first deposit. That starts the clock for you. As you make more payments for the trip, up the insurance for the payments-to-date, not counting that refundable bit anymore. If you don't want a coverage that requires the exclusion. then this issue may not be relevant anyway. GC
  8. We've never sent any cash/cash equivalent in advance for a private tour/excursion. We *have* paid a deposit, or occasionally the entire amount by charge card, but ONLY if there was a very clear written and reasonable cancellation policy IN WRITING in a document they sent us by email, something other than a blurb on a website. And in that case, we try to use our Amex Plat charge card. Amex seems to have the best customer protections, and we figure the Plat flavor might be even better in case of a dispute (but we've never yet had a dispute 🙂 ). We've always found our guides by Googling something like "CityName private tours" or similar. And then we send a few emails to likely prospects. And then... we find out who is the most responsive and also willing to customize. That way, we can spend more time here and less time there, depending upon our interests. As we are finalizing the itinerary, we'll usually ask something like, "Given what we've been asking about, do you have any other suggestions about what we might want to include?" We also have no problem with "cash on the day", although we still prefer charge cards in case anything goes sideways (but we've never yet had anything go sideways either 🙂 ). Yes, that "trust factor" has been at the back of our minds, especiallly the first few times we arranged private guides. As mentioned above, we'd have really hated to be left standing there with no guide showing up. It would often be almost impossible to get an "on the spot" guide who was really good, or get someone on the spot at all! When there wasn't anything special, such as on a Caribbean island where there wasn't a specific site/sight for an extended stop, a couple of times, we've spoken with a taxi driver on the spot, however. Then, we usually ask to be driven around the island, and we ask about any special suggestions, be it "views" or "history" or whatever. On one island, we asked them to stop at 2 or 3 of the nicer hotels so we could take a look for a longer return visit. Once we had a few hotel names to look at, and another time, we left it to the guide. That worked very well, both times. In fact, one of the best was when, as we were leaving the first hotel on "our" list, the guide said something about adding another hotel he thought we might especially like. It was nearby, so we said, "okay, let's take a look". Well... That guide had really "heard" what we had been discussing prior to our arrival. That was indeed the very best, at least for us! That was a guide we had read about here on CC, too, or we wouldn't have found them. We don't join groups, so cancellations due to "small numbers" doesn't come up. It's "private", just for us, which also allows customizing. We have created groups a couple of times, in advance, from our Roll Call. Twice, it was in the Caribbean, when we chartered a large catamaran. In that case, it was expensive enough that "sharing" would be nice. It was also large enough that "sharing" with a small group wouldn't be any problem. And we had already figured out the "itinerary" so everyone knew in advance. Note: There's "trust" issues all around. On the best itinerary we ever found (for a cruise excursion) in the Med, we arranged everything a guaranteed it with our charge card. Then MIL had a medical emergency, and on short notice, we had to cancel... but we had the others in our group plus the guide...! So I scrambled, notified everyone, had the charge card switched to another of the group, and... they all went without us. 😞 That was also a dynamite cruise itinerary, one we've never seen again (althoough I've kept looking!). It took a bit of extra planning and emailing in advance, but it was worth it: the guides always turned out to be excellent. GC
  9. That would vary with each ship (unless there are identical ships, which do occur sometimes), and also with the size of the ship. A 6,000 passenger ship probably has many more truly connecting cabins than a ship holding a fraction of that. That's why looking at the deck plans is what you need to do. GC
  10. Yes, my point was that you want the connecting doors to be INSIDE both of the cabins. Our one unfortunate experience was with two immediately adjacent rooms (not a cruise, so thankfully it was just a couple of nights) but the the only way to get from one to the other was to go out of one, into the hallway, walk maybe 2-3 feet, and walk back into the other room. The fact that the two rooms shared a *wall* was obviously of absolutely no use (we don't travel with chain saws or such! 😲 ). Sorry for any misunderstanding. I don't think I used the terminology of "interior cabin", just "interior connecting" or similar. This has never come up before, and I've written about this many times, here and elsewhere. I'll be more clear in the future! Enjoy your cruise! GC
  11. I don't understand your question. Needless to say, it depends upon what types of cabins or suites are on that particular ship. Whatever cabins or suites that are available (not already booked by others) should be available to you, same as for others. ?? GC
  12. Note: The "sleeping arrangement" here is ONLY for the reservations, as minors can't be "alone". The ship doesn't do "bed checks" 😉 so once you are on board, set up the sleeping as you wish, and given the ages of the children, yes, get two INTERIOR CONNECTING cabins so you can keep the door between them open. Don't make the mistake (ahem!) of ending up with two *adjacent* cabins... with no "interior connecting doors". Double check the cabins by looking at the deck plans and make *sure* the two that you have are designated as "connecting". Enjoy! GC
  13. I hsve never heard of a company called "Travel Insured Store", and when I just Googled that, and a few variations, nothing with that name showed up. (I could have missed something, obviously.) However, "Travel Insured" [without the "store" as part of the official name] *IS* definitiely a travel insurance company. We have used them many times, and also filed several claims (all of which were paid very promptly). And "Trip Insurance Store" (or www.TripInsuranceStore,com ) also *IS* defnitely a company, a travel insurance broker, selling policies from quite a few vetted travel insurers, one of which is "Travel Insured". We have also used "Trip Insurance Store" for *all* of our travel insurance policy purchases, and also for some help with a coupld of claims. GC
  14. Welcome to CruiseCritic! Why don't you also post on the "Australia" section of CC: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/564-australia-new-zealand-cruisers/ Perhaps there will be more readers there who are familiar with the local laws. What other countries will they be going to... and from? Might there be any questions at other borders? I'd look at each country's (including Australia's) own website, too. I don't have answers about your local laws, although I do have a reasonable understanding of how it works leaving the USA. GC
  15. We agree with most of what @Torquer wrote above. (The rest is mostly due to lack of knowledge, *not* disagreement.) We went on our first HAL cruise just before Covid (Nov/Dec, 2019). DH saw an itinerary and wanted to go, and "If HE wants to go, then... WE ARE GOING!!" 😀 There were a very few Neptune Suites available, so we grabbed one. We enjoy the PH Suites on Oceania's Riviera: Very comfortable space (although their new ships have apparenty done away with the walk-in closet; such a nice place to quickly stash things for a sudden cleanup, right!? 😉 ). We [meaning me] did *not* do our regular "due diligence studying" so we weren't sure quite what to expect. WE HAD A *WONDERFUL* TRIP! One of our best, although part of that was the itinerary. We were planning to enjoy it no matter what, but enjoyment was so easy! That included the MDR food, which was a special surprise. It may not have been the same as Oceania (or their specialty restaurants), but there wasn't a single dinner where we had any complaint... and we'll complain if we think it's appropriate, especially privately to each other. Didn't happen! Our Neptune Suite cost approximately the same as Oceania's PH Suite for a similar length cruise. Space seemed similar, albeit different layout, of course. But HAL won hands down with a MUCH nicer and larger bathroom. SO much nicer! We did miss the wonderful Butler service that we've somehow become a bit too much accustomed to (how'd that happen!?) on a couple of other lines. But that did not detract from our cruise, in part... because of... LINCOLN CENTER! I wrote earlier about how I'd arrive early with a book so we could get up front and personal, which makes a big difference to us with live performances, and especially chamber music. The venue was **MOBBED** every afternoon. People spilling out the back, standing... Why HAL thinks LC won't be missed "too much"?? We left our cruise feeling like we had found a new home (the ship was not too big). And then... and then... LC went poof. If there is a completely dynamite itinerary, maybe... But otherwise, we won't be back. Such a shame! 😡 GC
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