Nebr.cruiser

It also made quite the mess!

We actually had a large seagull on our balcony in the Med once, while in port. Then it hopped to our neighbor's balcony. We called customer service and a couple of guys came to remove it. It was quite a process--it was big!

Oh no, what a horrible way to end your cruise. Good luck with getting all the docs you need as quickly as possible and with dealing with the rest of the mess, credit cards, etc.

I've loved reading your posts. We'll be on the Oasis in November--too long to wait!

That's what we do. We also just find tours from operators waiting outside the ship.

New updated ships are fine, but in many ways I like some of the older ships, especially if they have a true promenade deck. They also seem to have a better connection to the sea. Some newer ships are more like staying at a hotel; Somewhat dated decor doesn't bother me at all, as long as basic upkeep is done. Some of the newer decor may look snazzy but be almost unusable. (I'm looking at you, Celebrity, with your horrible uncomfortable chairs in certain venues.)

Mahogany Bay for us is mostly a beach day for us since we've been there often. But, we have taken great tours that had toured the island, ziplining, small zoos, wonderful snorkeling from a catamaran, usually ending with a beach break. Costa Maya we have had a couple of really nice tours to the ruins, using non-ship tours. It's also a good port to just take a taxi or bus to the beach area and hang out there. Cozumel has many, many things to do. My favorite was a tour where we drove dune buggies around the island, stopping at many places along the way. We've also gone to beach clubs, done snorkeling and sometimes just walk around the port area since we've been there so many times. We almost never do ship tours, but we are experienced cruisers. Some tour we arrange beforehand, others we just pick up on the dock.

I can get by with 3--walking shoes on the plane, wedge sandals for evening, regular sandals. But I usually add another pair of sandals and dressier heels (wedges) and water shoes if needed. Sometimes I add a pair of casual flats. I have fairly small feet, my small carry-on has a nifty shoe compartment that I can get 3 smaller pairs in (sandals, water shoes, flats) and the rest fit easily in 24". I have found it is better to have at least two pairs of sandals. I've had problems with blisters wearing even a well broken in pair when wearing for all day touring especially in the heat. I also had to throw a pair of sandals away in Australia last year due to a very naughty dog that doesn't like us to leave! Let's just say he left his mark on my shoe bag!

We cancelled our South America cruise last December with Princess Platinum insurance 3 days before sailing. My husband had injured his back in October and had numerous dr. appts., epidurals (4), chiropratic treatment and physical therapy in hope he could go. We made the hard decision to cancel as late as possible as walking was just too painful. We had a really good experience with the Princess Insurance. I gathered all the needed documentation and submitted it online. Less than a week later we had all covered expenses reimbursed. We didn't use Princess flights, hotels or tours. All of our independent tours we were able to cancel also., even the one that was supposedly non-refundable that close.

Thanks for the update. Makes me feel better. Strangely, we had two cruises and also land touring in Australia and New Zealand last year--spent almost 6 weeks there. Absolutely wonderful (except, see below)! Luckily, we didn't have to cancel, although we all came down with Covid and the flu at the very end of the trip. For that trip we counted on Chase Sapphire for the trip insurance and our normal annual plan for the med/evacuation catastrophic type of coverage.

That sounds great; all the fine print makes policies hard to understand. Has anyone used their Chase Sapphire Preferred policy for a cancelled cruise or trip? How did it work out. I realize it is secondary insurance.

Sounds great, especially since we are doing a cruise right before this one, with one day in between. We'll be going from the Gargantuan of the Seas (oops, I mean Oasis) to the Azamara--quite the difference! I also need to amend my quote above; I once did buy a hot chocolate on an Alaska Cruise!

True, although I'm not sure about a family member's heart attack when they had a history of heart problems. Also the first two trips (cancel for family) were mostly land, with some river cruising. Of course that doesn't make any difference with most insurance.

We had to cancel a cruise 3 days out with Princess because of a back injury. We had the Platinum insurance, which paid back everything associated with the cruise within about 5 days of turning in all the paperwork. We have also had to cancel two major trips because of health crises of elderly parents years ago. Again, we were reimbursed everything we insured. Now we are the 'elderly' (late 70's.! We always get an annual evacuation, etc. policy, such as Geo Blue and if on Princess their Platinum plan, since the upgrade is included because we are at the Platinum loyalty level. If not on Princess we rely on our Chase Sapphire insurance in case of cancellation or trip delay plus our annual plan. This involves some risk because the Chase insurance doesn't have a pre-existing conditions waiver, but we are ok with that. We can (wouldn't like) afford to take a hit on the price of the cruise itself (flights are always booked with airline miles, which can be put back into our account) but if we needed extensive medical treatment and/or evacuation, that would be much harder financially. There's no right answer for everyone. In our case, insurance has reimbursed us close to the $20,000 range for the three trips we had to cancel. Worth it to us.

Thank you everyone. I am fine with the 48 hour notice. I was just worried that if using OBC it couldn't be cancelled, ( I mean, the OBC wouldn't be returned) as I thought I had read that somewhere. We probably would use OBC on specialty restaurants and upgraded wifi, but honestly the other things like upgraded drinks (we mostly don't drink), spa, etc. aren't items we are interested in. In 50 + cruises I've never bought any kind of drink, coffee, pop, etc.! I'll probably enjoy the basic drink package, but not a big deal for either of us.

It will be our first time on Azamara in Dec. We have a lot of OBC, so much I'm not sure how we will spend it and I think it is nonrefundable. If we pay for excursions now with OBC and later change our minds, can we cancel and the OBC will go back in our accounts?

Definitely not a first time cruiser but we usually book 3 or so months out. We have booked three days before the cruise and 8 months (longest) before a cruise. I actually like booking closer to the cruise date as it just takes too long for the cruise to get here. I hate waiting month and months. We used to get really good deals closer to the cruise date but sometimes that is more difficult now.

I know. On one cruise, one of the participants was wonderfully funny after being hypnotized. Later we saw the same girl helping with a ship excursion. An obvious plant--but boy did she do it well!

The Island is not a favorite of mine, but it's okay, I'd sail her again for the right itinerary. To me, the itinerary and length of the cruise is much better on Princess, and many of the ports will probably be warmer, which is a factor that time of year. I'm sure Windstar would be a wonderful experience, but to me itinerary and length top that. Also, keep your eye on Princess as sometimes they have very cheap single rates, usually on repositioning or shoulder/off season cruises. My sisters paid only 10% over on a recent cruise, and each got the same amount of OBC as a couple would and their own balcony.

We're not particularly sociable in our at home life and haven't cruised with other couples, although we have taken a couple of vacations with friends. We do cruise often with my two sisters. We usually eat dinner together and do tours together but go our own way for other meals and on board, meeting up if we have an activity or entertainment we want to do. It seems to work out well. I think it is important to not be joined at the hip for the entire cruise; that way we enjoy our time together more and to be respectful of differences.

I often research cruises online and get emails about sakes from several. I've noticed lately that the pricing, format, etc. are exactly the same for several of these sites. I mean, word for word, graphics, anything. So I think you are right. It's not that easy to find a really good TA who isn't bound to some big travel agency. I will say that I have mostly had very good service from the agents I do use--I have a couple of favorites, and they do work for big agencies.

The water depth was fine when we went through them; perhaps it would be deeper with a high tide. The beach area where you come out of the Baths, however, had quite large waves with an undertow. I'm an experienced swimmer, was a life guard and gave swim lessons and I did not feel safe swimming there. Also, the trip through the Baths is wonderful, but not for any one with physical or medical problems, especially mobility.

I feel the logistics of getting from the airport to Galveston is one of the wosrt we've experienced. We've used the shared shuttle bus, which was ok but just took a long, long time. Of course, the port is a good distancer from IAH, IT's not a port we want to use often, especially because itineraries from there are so limited and in winter the first and last day tend to be very cool.

Updating to 2024 and over 50 cruises, we still haven't had a missed port, knock on wood!

We've taken minor grandchildren on cruises. Be sure to take everything they ask for and it doesnt hurt to be overly prepared. We had 7 grandkids with us and they went over each one's paperwork extremely carefully and asked the kids questions. I agree with a form to make medical decisions and sign waivers, etc. Rather safe then left sitting on the pier!