GeezerCouple

There are quite a few recent posts about this: One of our posts is #11 in that thread, and I think we posted again later. The 3rd party insurance made a HUGE difference on several different occasions, including the first time we purchased it! (Thanks again to *all* at CC whose comments we read here on CC, and the recommendation to work with www.TripInsuranceStore.com - I wish we hadn't had so many claims, but at least all were paid, including the large claims!) GC

Yes, I should have mentioned that any other "stops" one wishes to make... we've never had any difficulty. In fact, they almost always pause after pushing out of the gate area towards the terminal at the first rest stop and ask if we'd like to make a stop. Also, when heading towards the gate after security on outbound, we usually ask if we could stop at a little shop so we can get some Diet Coke or sparkling water to bring on board. We prefer the bottles, because they can be re-capped during the flight. Cans... not so much! 😞 And of course, we couldn't bring the beverages through security. Thus far, there has only been one time that "after security" there was no place to purchase anything. (That was in one particular terminal/gate area in Singapore. No way to purchase anything at all, beverage or otherwise. Odd. Someone was leaving money on the table with that plan! They've got a captive audience sitting around waiting, and waiting some more... Even if they aren't going to get supplies for *on* the plane, they might want some munchies or beverages while waiting.) Bottom line is that the helpers/pushers are almost always very helpful indeed. (At one small European airport, it was the "rescue crew" who helped out, so the pusher had a bright red uniform on, big boots, day glow vest, etc. Surprisingly, he was one of the few who wanted to spend more time chatting with almost everyone we passed, or so it seemed, than to get us to the taxi. For a while, the pushers at JetBlue arrivals in Denver were corporate volunteers. And it was more than obvious that they were "volunteering". They were in no rush, they often didn't think about how to handle a wheelchair so it didn't bump straight into something, they would constantly stop to speak with another volunteer passing by, etc. And apparently the "volunteers" got travel vouchers... 😉 ) GC

Okay... So how do passengers "evaluate the value to price ratio" of the food? Or included beverages? Or the pool? Or the services of the stewards? The "included" things are just... "included". GC

You might want to post this on the "Air" section of CC: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/77-cruise-air/ That should get the attention of those who fly a lot. 🙂 GC

Both in the USA and overseas, we have found that the wheelchair pusher and wheelchair can be used from the airplane door to the baggage carousel and then on to ground transportation. Sometimes the helper will ask; other times we mention it first. We try to tip the helpers generously, but for arrivals, they typically spend extra time just waiting... for the luggage... so we tip a bit extra as we are getting into a taxi, depending upon just how lengthy that wait was. Even in a couple of smaller foreign airports, there wasn't any special difficulty getting assistance and a chair. Or, not yet... Occasionally (in USA or overseas), DH needed to go into the terminal to get wheelchair assistance when we arrive at the airport. GC

This is what caribsun actually wrote: I have absolutely no idea if this would work, but this suggestion was NOT to "ship the dog by freighter" nor did it leave the question of who would look after the dog... Unless I'm losing my reading skills, caribsun was indeed suggesting that they ALL go by freighter. And there's a full subforum here on CC about freighter travel: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/378-freighter-and-other-non-traditional-cruise-travel/ OP might want to double check whether this might work, while also providing an interesting alternate holiday. [When I was in grad school - yes, true, that was ages age! - a classmate's parents were retired and regularly traveled just about everywhere by freighter. I thought that very odd at the time... until I landed here on CC decades later and started reading about some of the options for "cruising by freighter" and other "non-traditional" cruising. Some fascinating choices, for those interested...] Who knows... some freighters might enjoy having a warm fuzzy on board for a time. There's one passenger cruise ship whose Captain keeps her cat with her during her travels: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles/qa-with-bug-naked-cruisings-most-famous-and-least-furry-feline (The cat is a hairless sphinx cat; they feel like warm suede. 🙂 ) My main concern with an elderly dog would be the lack of vet services for such a trip. (OP could perhaps do what some of us older humans do: keep a supply of "might be needed" meds on hand, with arrangements to contact doctor about when/how to use them, just in case...) GC

That's probably completely irrelevant to this topic, unless one includes this definition... "free: (alternate def) already included/not optional; already paid for; paid in advance; forced inclusion with something else already paid for." 😉 or 😱 GC

I have no idea about pricing, but do a search for: air transportation for pets and a few services will show up. They have flights that I think usually combine a few pets (in carriers!) heading in similar directions. It's probably not cheap, but it's also probably a lot less expensive than chartering a plane and just doing it yourself! Hope this helps! GC

I have no idea if this will be helpful. First, you are definitely not alone in having trouble with the cramped quarters in coach/economy. We can no longer do that for a flight of any length, and certainly not for really long haul! We started using awards for the business class international travel, and we've done that on some *very* nice top airlines. In addition to trying to charge just about *everything* to get those points (although we won't pay extra for that; we just charge rather than cash or a check, etc.), the significant bonus points for opening new charge cards can be 60k to 100k per person per card. So, if we each get a new awards-linked card every year or two (or so...), that helps get those awards counts up nicely. Because those bonus points are free, they really up the "value" of the points that we use (compared with if we had gotten cash back, or such). It's worked very well for us. We've had several *long* flights that we absolutely loved (yes!), and in one case, I would have been happy to fly back and forth once more (DH laughed, but I was serious, albeit there was never any opportunity to do that, of course). Since we realized that flights of any length in economy/coach are no longer doable for us, there has only been one time when we had to pay for business class, when there simply was *no* way to do that trip using points. So we held our noses and paid for those tickets, and ... hope we never need to do that again! We do make sure that we are likely to get (subject to always possible equipment changes) nice seat/beds; some of them can be almost coffin-like, although those are not as common any more. GC

Nope! It's NOT "you". That Butler is not a "butler person"! IF people would complain, hopefully, that "butler" would be in a job better suiting their strengths... GC

Corkage? and now Cookage? GC

F is First Class and J is often used for Business class when discussing awards. If you browse through the AA online information, you should find it. I usually search for something like: "American International Partner Airlines". Ah, here is a place to start: https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/miles/redeem/award-travel/oneworld-and-other-airline-partner-award-chart.jsp Just wander around on the website and browse for a while. It can get pretty complicated, but it can lead to some amazing travel! As for "what's better about the international airlines", well, that depends in part on *which* international airlines and *which* US airlines one is comparing. And one person may have different preferences than some others, in part depending upon which class of service they tend to fly. GC

We use only Amex Rewards and AA awards miles/points, mostly using AA. However, we have never actually flown on AA with those AA awards. There are much nicer seats/beds on their better international partner airlines, in either J or occasionally even F (nice!). The call may need to go to an AA group who work with partner reservations, but you certainly do not need to *fly* on American equipment! We hope we never do; those international partners are soooo nice! And in many cases, *fewer* points are needed to travel in the same class (e.g., J or F) with that nicer partner than if we had flown on AA flights. Win/Win to use the partners! GC

There are several reasons that some people may prefer certain locations for cabins or suites when they are in the same "category" (cabins for cabins, suites for suites, of course). There can be less motion in the mid areas of the ship, and also on lower decks. OTOH, some people prefer the view foreward or aft. Another reason is whether someone wants to be "closer" to some amenity, be it a lounge (e.g., the Executive Lounge) or less walking to the MDR or something. Trying to avoid noise is often an important reason to select certain areas, for sure! GC

I obviously have no idea what will happen in your particular case/your specific cruise. However, I assume it is a situation like this (or somewhat similar somehow) that can lead Oceania to make some relatively (or very!) appealing offers for some people with confirmed reservations on a particular cruise in a particular category if they will switch to a different cruise. That would free up something in the "needed" categories. Having an offer like that has been discussed a few times here on CC. We had an offer once that was quite amazing from a financial perspective. O offered to "trade" us for our PH on a cruise for a longer cruise on a different date and itinerary, for a swap that also included very attractive additional financial benefit to us, beyond just the switcheroo. Alas, we were not interest in the newly offered cruise or couldn't travel then (I'm forgetting the reason we turned them down), which was really a shame. If we could have, we certainly would have made a change like that, unless we were traveling with others, which we rarely do. Even if we needed to coordinate with some land-based travel, we could still have done the land part and just replaced the cruise with something later. Or maybe there'd be a very special upgrade for some lucky folks, depending upon what remains or becomes available...! GC

Can Oceania unilaterally change the terms of a contract with a passenger? It would have been nice if they (O) announced all of it sooner and as "complete information", rather than having the information (or lack thereof) dribble out slowly, and possible not accurately. There will without a doubt be some who are not happy about the new program, no matter what it turns out to be. Why add any upset that turns out not to have been needed in the first place because of mixed messaging!? IF this "is it or isn't it" is so O can figure out what is liked or especially disliked, shouldn't that have been part of the research/planning before any changes were actually decided? GC

The requirements may make more sense if you understand the reasoning behind some of these regulations. For minors traveling without *both* parents, one of the concerns is child abduction by a non-custodial parent. So if names don't match up, even if two parents are there, or if only one parent is there, then a notarized form where the absent parent gives permission for the traveling parent may be required. Or from both parents, if others (e.g., grands, parents of friends, etc.) are the adults. The US State Department website has more about this, and I think some forms that could be used (unless a cruise line has their own, more extensive, form, perhaps). GC

It seems likely, especially if that post I quoted above (from some bullet point list) is correct, that "cruise only" will now mean "cruise only, and the cruise includes <things like some excursions, beverages, etc.>", but not air. After all, the air is not "during the cruise", but things like beverages and excursions *are* "during the cruise". That would make them similar to, say, soft drinks (which are not "included" on all cruise lines) or Specialty restaurants... However, it's still not going to be "all inclusive" due to the booze, or excursions above the amount "allowed". I've always had a question about the "all inclusives": I assume that they do not let passengers go wild with a nice wine list... That is, I can't imagine that "all inclusive" would indeed include bottles of Cheval Blanc wine or such, for example. There are some ultra-lux destinations/etc., that do not charge extra for fine wine (and will even try to stock a preferred wine/vintage), but even those that make that claim... there *must* be some limits, or even they won't be in business long. So does the "all inclusive" of the luxury lines actually mean "mostly inclusive", or is it really "everything on the ship is included"? Finally, others have raised an important question (one that doesn't affect us because we take private excursions [and sometimes include others in the Roll Call], but it's important more generally!): What happens about those "included excursions" (or money for them) if the excursions one wants (or in some cases, is able to do, such as long walks) are full? It's not so great if that 3- or 4-figures of included excursions end up being things you absolutely are not interested in, or absolutely cannot even do? Inquiring minds (who enjoy fine wine! 😉 )... etc... Thanks. GC

I thought someone mentioned that there *was* going to be a "cruise only" option. HOWEVER (and the devil is in the details), this was not going to be your favorite "cruise only" of the past (pre "simplyMORE"). Wasn't that choice going to be without the air, but still include the forced payment for the "new" beverage arrangement AND the "new" excursion arrangement? [In an earlier post on this thread, someone mentioned that "Nashna" had mentioned this so-called "cruise only" on a *different* thread. However, I can't now find a post that is directly about the so-called "cruise only" option.] If my memory of that choice is correct, then Oceania is simply using the same terminology for a very different choice! And if so, it's a terrific way to confuse one's customers. Not good... ETA: Found a post by MargateKev that included this bullet point: When you choose cruise-only fare under the simplyMORE program you are excluding air only, all of the other amenity changes outlined will be included. as Post #3 in the "Simply more's impact on current bookings?" thread GC

Many thanks for the "young"! 😀 GC

From Post 269 above, about what's in the SimplyMore: "...All simplyMORE bookings include a shore excursion credit. There will be a group of excursions to choose from using your credit. Unlike Olife, with simplyMORE you can choose to apply your credit to any excursion...." [emphasis added] "There will be A GROUP OF EXCURSIONS TO CHOOSE FROM" or "you can choose to apply your credit to ANY excursion" ? This likely won't affect us, as we so rarely do any cruise excursions (any line, any ship), but for general information, is there going to be a special "group" of eligible excursions available, or is it "any excursion"? Those could be very different... I'm annoyed by the ambiguity/confusion this wording generates, regardless of the actual meaning. Why can't Oceania spit it out once, with the correct and unambiguous wording? GC

Why don't you post this on the Family Cruise section of CC: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/28-family-cruises/ You'll probably find many families there who not only "know about" 5-person cabins/suites, but also have experienced them. Otherwise, I'd call a travel agent familiar with cruising, or call any cruise lines you might be interested in. Or... look at deck plans or the "notes" section of those, where some specific symbol will probably be used for accommodations that can fit 5 or 6, etc. (like a double asterisk, or such) that would show on the cabin outline on the deck plans. GC

Thanks Jersey42. I just learned something, which is always good! 🙂 And although it's unlikely to be useful to us (but hey, who knows!?), it will help me to give better information to others, especially about that Travel Guard policy, which isn't restricted to use of one specific travel vendor. (It sounds vaguely familiar, so I probably did hear about it before and just forgot. We always get our travel insurance through TripInsuranceStore.com - and they have one particular policy from Travel Insured that is "just right" for us, so we now just "order the same", so to speak, when we call TIS. 😉 ) And the best advice of all is to ALWAYS read all of the terms and conditions of any insurance policy (not just travel insurance), and more generally, *any* contract that one is agreeing to. GC

Here is my answer, from the previous page of this thread, where there are other discussions of travel insurance claims that were paid: As we mentioned above, travel insurance is for "travel" expenses. In fact, even WHILE traveling, unless one has *primary* medical coverage with the travel insurance, the travel insurance will only cover any medical costs incurred AFTER one's regular health insurance has denied the coverage, or for any portion that was denied. GC

I don't think any (or not most anyway) travel insurance covers medical expenses once one is home. That's what your regular health/medical insurance is for. Most travel insurance will cover extra expenses incurred due to covered reasons *while* you are traveling. This could include medical costs, extra transportation or housing needed during that time, etc. ... but not something that would have been otherwise paid for if you were home... once you *are* home. ETA: I should have added what I wrote in partial response to your other same question: Unless one has travel insurance with *primary* medical coverage, the travel policy will only pay AFTER your regular health insurance has declined all or part of your medical costs while traveling. GC